I'd be surprised if the announcement didn't also come with that change. Easiest way to even the field.
If Microsoft decides to make GitHub free for all, this can honestly have a devastating affect on GitLab and Bitbucket. I really think Microsoft is a lot more interested in:
- capturing developer data for ML/AI research
- identify new product ideas
- identify ways to improve existing products
- create a funnel to existing products
Especially since Microsoft's own version control thing has this.
Well, sort of. It's limited to 5 contributors, which is kind of a big deal if you're on a serious team.
If you have more than 5 contributors, you can probably afford to spend $5/user/month If that isn't the case, then GitLab/Gogs/Gitea/etc. is probably the better route to go.
They do have free private repos for academic researchers already.