Microsoft could stall Bitcoin development via GitHub

Bitcoin developers flagged a user suspension this week by Microsoft’s GitHub as an example of the company’s disconcerting level of control over Bitcoin’s technical architecture.

Fortunately, many developers rallied in support of the pseudonymous “grim,” gaining the attention of a GitHub support representative who reactivated them.

Nonetheless, the incident highlighted the power of Microsoft to arbitrarily censor the communications and code editing privileges of Bitcoin developers as a serious matter.

GitHub’s shortcomings are a frequent complaint by Bitcoin contributors.

First of all, software development cycles are time-sensitive. Votes or authorizations are often tallied on GitHub and are actioned within specific windows of time on a scheduled timetable.

If GitHub suspends a user, that censorship could cause significant distortion of the consensus-making process between other developers who might not be aware of the suspension.

Second, establishing communication elsewhere or coordinating an alternative to GitHub might be impossible for time-sensitive matters.

Although a few developers know one another personally through local venues like Chaincode Labs, Bitcoin development is global, distributed, and often pseudonymous community.

If GitHub goes down, several international developers would have difficulty trusting a quick transfer of communications to another platform.

Indeed, many Bitcoin developers operate under their GitHub username. Although they often host their own website or maintain alternate references, proving the legitimacy of a username transfer on another platform is cumbersome.

Microsoft’s power to stall and silence Bitcoin developers

GitHub is the world’s largest source code host. Over 150 million users contribute to its repositories. Out of convenience, Bitcoin developers use it to chat, manage tasks, track bugs, request software features, and edit user permissions.

Microsoft acquired GitHub in 2018. Even then, developers expressed concern about the level of control the acquisition would give Microsoft over Bitcoin.

In addition to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list and assorted chat apps like Discord and Telegram, GitHub is a dominant venue for Bitcoin work and communication.

Senior maintainers tag versions of Bitcoin Core for release — and binaries are audited for authenticity — using GitHub release histories.

Although backups exist elsewhere, GitHub is the primary place to verify the editing history of Core software and its pull requests.

Unfortunately, Microsoft also has struggled to keep GitHub clear of bots and spam, with one developer recently complaining about “millions of fake issues and PRs clogging up repos and notifications.”

Over the years, Bitcoin developers have requested less centralized alternatives like GitLab or BitBucket.

Although the community decided to migrate its Bitcoin-Dev mailing list from Linux to Google Groups — a major migration of communications — no migration away from GitHub has ever gained significant traction.

As a result, Microsoft retains an unsettling amount of power that it has rarely exercised over Bitcoin development.

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