I was thinking about this today. It's a matter of time before Microsoft steps in and kicks bitcoin off. I think government will make a move against open source development using KYC/AML as pretext to pave the way for a CBDC. I will guess in the next two years.
Yea it does seem like a potential issue. Fortunately Git != GitHub, so a different provider can be used in the future, or maybe someone will build it on nostr by then
can't stop from immediately replying since you might still update your comment like i always do, lol:
the code is not the problem. it's all the organization and infrastructure around it :)
My hot take is that the pace and quality of bitcoin development will fall back to early days if Github becomes hostile tomorrow and everyone just sits at home and stares at the bitcoin code on their own without any real means to collaborate, lol :)
I agree, it would be a serious blow early on because it would disrupt the workflow. But there are plenty of communication channels that can be used. It would just take some time to work out a new working pattern.
but how much time exactly and will we have so much time when it happens? will it be part of a coordinated attack? we don't know but we know that we don't know :)
IMO we will a bifurcation between Bitcoin for institutions and Bitcoin for plebs.
Blackrock et al. now have an incentive to defend Bitcoin Core, because if the project fails / stagnates then it hurts their bottom line.
On the other hand, ETF providers and govs now have an incentive to drive plebs away from self-custody. Surveilance and taxation is much easier if you're locked into an ETF. So we could see regulatory attacks on wallets and privacy tech such as coinjoins.
I think it good to be hyper cynical. That is, if there is a system that can be taken over / infultrated / censored / etc and that system has massive value (or negative value to some other parties) it's good to assume there WILL be people trying to do these things.
Thus, systems should be built resiliently in ways that mitigate these threats. Even if the cynicism is undue, it's beneficial to have such a system.
So far, I don't know that the Bitcoin software has been manipulated like that (I suppose some would disagree). The system has to be accepted by the world-wide set of nodes, so that is a massive mitigation itself. However, it would be beneficial to have a different process for the code.
Nostr / Bitcoin-core seems like could be a match made in heaven for this purpose.
Realistically, github will probably never try to censor bitcoin-related code en masse. It would be a PR nightmare for them.
They might cooperate with one or two special takedown requests for things like anonymous coins, or coinjoin protocols. But the vast majority of projects will be safe, and if they are taken down, many will probably be reinstated.
For precedent, consider how youtube-dl, probably the most popular music piracy tool online, is still available on github even after a highly-controversial and well-funded industry-led push to purge it.
Bitcoin, unlike music piracy, is a legitimate industry with a market capitalization which github cannot ignore.
As an open source program, Bitcoin is like the holy grail to Github. I wouldn't be surprised if Github integrated Bitcoin payment for some pull and push git
Sooner or later it will become an attack vector. Jack Dorsey published a bounty some time ago to work on an alternative. So I guess there's already something in the works. Check his note here:
Github probably will ban/lock Bitcoin's repo or a combination of other actions. Luckily there are alternatives such as Gitlab and self-hosted solutions.
The most important step left to decentralize Bitcoin even further (besides getting more merchants on Lightning) is getting rid of Github.
I know that there are mirrors and there are torrents and yada yada yada. As long as people see a Microsoft website as the single source of truth there is still work to do.
GitNostr or GitUsenet or similar. We need something
youtube-dl, probably the most popular music piracy tool online, is still available on github even after a highly-controversial and well-funded industry-led push to purge it.