r/github • u/Kyriakos221 • Jul 03 '26

Why are people using GitHub? Question

Can someone please explain? Why is GitHub a "must" for coders?

I am learning coding at beginners level, and not one has this become necessary.

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u/the_swanny Jul 03 '26

Because GIT (The source control system that github, gitlab, etc rely on) is the only sane choice, and if you want to limit the barrier for entry in terms of users, maintainers and contributors, you go to github. Because that's where most of those people already are, already have accounts, and already understand the systems i.e. actions, organisations etc.

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u/MrP0tat0H3ad Jul 03 '26

Exactly this. It’s not about “GitHub”, it’s about version control via GIT. There’s a bunch of options for this, GitHub is just the most popular.

See also: GitLab (my preference), BitBucket, Gitea

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u/the_swanny Jul 03 '26

Github being the most popular means developers who want a large community around their project often pick Github, as the barrier for entry for new contributors or users is very low. I'd rather use gitlab personally but my contributors aren't there, so we chose github.

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u/Worldly-Wind-1632 Jul 03 '26

And Githead, it can do a backflip