GitHub
Noun · Open Source · Origin: 2008
Definitions
GitHub is a web-based platform for version control and collaboration built on top of Git, the distributed version control system created by Linus Torvalds. Launched in 2008 and acquired by Microsoft in 2018, GitHub hosts over 100 million repositories and serves as the central hub for open-source development. Beyond Git hosting, it provides pull requests for code review, issues for project tracking, GitHub Actions for CI/CD automation, GitHub Pages for static site hosting, Codespaces for cloud development environments, and Copilot for AI-assisted coding. GitHub's social features (following developers, starring repositories, contribution graphs) created a culture of open collaboration and made it the de facto portfolio site for software engineers. Organizations use GitHub for both open-source and private repositories. Alternatives include GitLab (which offers a self-hosted option) and Bitbucket. GitHub's influence on modern software development workflows is difficult to overstate.
In plain English: The most popular website for hosting code and collaborating on software projects — think of it as social media for programmers, where your projects are your posts.
Used as a verb meaning to publish or share code publicly. Also serves as a metonym for the open-source community itself — 'on GitHub' often means 'publicly available as open source,' regardless of which platform actually hosts it.
Example: 'Just GitHub it — throw the script in a public repo and tweet the link. Someone will find it useful.'
Source: informal / verb form
Etymology
- 2008
- Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Scott Chacon launch GitHub, making Git hosting social and accessible
- 2009
- GitHub reaches 100,000 users and becomes the de facto home of open source
- 2018
- Microsoft acquires GitHub for $7.5 billion, surprising a community wary of corporate ownership
- 2021
- GitHub Copilot launches, making the platform central to AI-assisted coding
Origin Story
The social network that made version control collaborative
Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, P.J. Hyett, and Scott Chacon launched **GitHub** in April 2008. Git (created by Linus Torvalds in 2005) was powerful but had a steep learning curve. GitHub added a web interface, pull requests, and social features that made Git accessible.
The key innovation was making open-source contribution social. You could follow developers, star projects, and fork repositories with one click. Pull requests turned code review from an email-based slog into a streamlined workflow. The 'social coding' tagline was accurate.
Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion in 2018, shocking the open-source community. Despite fears, GitHub continued growing and now hosts over 200 million repositories. It became the de facto resume for developers -- your GitHub profile matters more than your LinkedIn.
Coined by: Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath, P.J. Hyett, Scott Chacon
Context: San Francisco, April 2008
Fun fact: GitHub's mascot, the Octocat (a cat with octopus tentacles), was designed by Simon Oxley, the same graphic designer who created Twitter's original bird logo. Preston-Werner found the Octocat on iStockPhoto and bought the rights.