Well, going with Github wasn’t quite as stupid a decision when they made it, which iirc was so long ago that it hadn’t yet been acquired by Microsoft. As with other typical corporate problems, once they got started down that road and had some sunk costs they couldn’t find the strength to turn back even long after it became apparent that it was a mistake.
Maybe I’m thick, but what’s the benefit for them in moving from self hosted to MSFT hosted?
Well, going with Github wasn’t quite as stupid a decision when they made it, which iirc was so long ago that it hadn’t yet been acquired by Microsoft. As with other typical corporate problems, once they got started down that road and had some sunk costs they couldn’t find the strength to turn back even long after it became apparent that it was a mistake.
they were using mercurial
That’s the version control system, not the hosting platform. They didn’t need to go with microsoft
GitHub is the most popular forge, if they want people to contribute, it’s a clear favorite.
That’s a more sensible reason. Now if only they could shake their dependence on google
Contributions will still go through phabricator rather than GitHub. GitHub does still give their greater visibility than elsewhere, though.
Biggest site that most to-be contributors already have accounts at?
Contributions will still need to be made outside of GitHub.