If software consumption were truly zero marginal cost, it would be just as easy for anyone else to maintain their own version of GitHub as it is for GitHub itself. But it’s far more efficient for a single platform to manage the code, security, infrastructure, support, and whatever else comes with maintaining a software product. Developers use GitHub over GitLab not just for the network effects but also for the former’s security and reliability. The same goes for why someone would use a Google product, like Gmail or Google Docs, over that of a startup. It costs money and manpower to do these
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