> they charge their customers based-on willingness to pay related to market forces and the value they deliver.
So do I, that's why I don't work for a company that says "well you life in a low-cost area, so you need to charge us less".
Their policy is transparent, and it is take-it-or-leave-it. I think the salary gripes you're hearing from many commenters is that they are leaving it, when they'd very much like to work for Gitlab, as it's a company I personally like.
However, what they're doing will either get them developers in the most highly-paid areas (where their salaries are actually competitive) or lower-paid developers that are actually not the best their local market has to offer (because the best developers are already employed elsewhere for higher pay). So, in essence, what they're doing is limiting their top-tier prospects to people who live in high-cost areas.
As another commenter said at some point, living in the Valley has such high cost because there are benefits to it. Developers in SF can find a job more or less the minute they walk out of the door of one company, and that's something that's expensive. I don't have the same luxury, and Gitlab says "well, since you aren't paying for the privilege of job liquidity, we'll give you a lot less money".