That's not accurate. GitHub is still getting lots of data from people without accounts, and providing open access helps them get more users in general.
If we have to do a restaurant analogy, it's like going to a restaurant (buffet?), opting out of premium, and still wanting access to a particular food item. It's not automatically ridiculous.
The OP is literally standing outside the restaurant looking through the window and complaining about not being allowed to eat for free.
> GitHub is still getting lots of data from people without accounts
This doesn't matter. If you want code search, you must log into a free account. Why is this controversial? Github isn't a charity - they don't exist to benefit freeloaders that won't even create a free account. Life doesn't need to be this hard folks...
you two both have missed the obvious that recently it was deemed legal to scrape public sights, and GH has all the code, and other code based AI tools need training.
The parent complaining about creating a free account can just keep complaining, or create one, I don’t care. But this nonsense about cost for search is not the issue.