I haven’t published a lot to GitHub in some time, mostly for reasons caused by me. I blocked most outbound connections, including port 22, which broke my habit of using SSH to push commits. (I did not, at the time, think of using a jump host.) I used the gh command (GitHub CLI) until the signing key expired. In their how-did-this-happen? section, the CLI team shifted the blame, further “explaining” that both they and their management were incompetent. That team is no longer permitted to run code on my systems.

The other problem is so-called AI. GitHub wants me to have Copilot, and my updated workflow makes use of Podman Desktop, which also wants me to have AI in a non-dismissable ad. The inability to express non-consent on these platforms is a constant drain on me.

“Vote with your wallet,” they say. “Leave a service if you don’t like it.” But that doesn’t work if the market leader takes a wrong turn, and everyone follows.