GitHub

GitHub

Subject – Defence and security

Context – The open-source software repository service GitHub is in the news after it was used to create and share an offensively named app that sexually harassed Muslim women in India.

Concept –

• GitHub is the world’s largest open-source developer community platform where users upload their projects and code for others to view, edit, and tweak.
• The idea of GitHub is this: any developer can upload whatever software code or app code or software idea they have on the platform, and have others collaborate with them to help improve it, find errors, and fix problems.
• Any public project can be viewed by others on the platform.
• Most of the features of the platform are free for users. Organisations can use paid accounts to upload their software and projects for collaboration.
• The platform uses the software Git, which was created in 2005 by Linus Trovalds, the developer of the open-source operating system Linux, to track changes in a set of files and for coordination in software development.