> No one wants to use something where the consequence of making a mistake is "well I guess you're f_cked now". You're ignoring the entire usability side of computing and innovation.

Wow wow wow, so you're basically saying that users who are capable enough to even need/use decentralised version control systems are too dumb and incompetent to setup Time Machine, Timeshift, or File History? Really?

> There are other ways to verify identity (especially within a social network, where real life people know other real life people), but these companies simply do not want to put the effort it.

So you are suggesting that instead of keeping one piece of information (e.g. a second e-mail address or just a token generator, which can be an app), you instead share your entire private life with these companies? Oh, and by the way - how would you even protect your social media accounts then? 2FA all the way down?

> Trust me, if Nat Friedman somehow loses his email and 2fac at the same time, I can bet you that they would someone find a way to verify his identity and let him back in to his Github account (or honestly any other account).

Trust me, the CEO running the show is in an entirely different category than most of the 50 million other accounts and you (in this case GH) don't even want to have all this sensitive personal information.

The less info you have, the less impact a data leak on the provider's side can have. Why would anyone trust GH with their personal information more than any other tech company?

Mission critical data belongs in multiple location. Full stop. Losing access to a GH account should never be more than an inconvenience if your livelihood depends on it or you value your personal data.

> This is false. Almost every part of cyber-security is a trade-off between security and usability. If you want the most secure system, just turn everything off. Totally secure. But also totally un-useable.

I'm not talking about security in general. I'm specifically talking about deliberately weakening a security measure (here: 2FA) for no reason at all.

Do you leave your house key under the doormat? Do you keep a post-it note with all your passwords taped to the back of your phone - you know, just in case you forget one and for convenience?

> Not everyone has the privilege to spend a "few hundred bucks on a NAS" and pay for it to be securely stored somewhere.

A USB drive is not a privilege and if you can't afford a data storage solution I seriously wonder why you have a need for a distributed version control system in a (semi-)professional environment.

Data has become more important than ever, yet people still fail to understand to treat it like they would other valuables. 20 bucks for a protective case for your phone - no problem. 50 bucks for a half decent 1TB portable USB HDD to backup their most important and irreplaceable data - only the privileged and tech gurus can afford that...

Nah mate, think again. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket (allegedly 10s of thousands of proverbial eggs in this case) and then whine about forgetting to change 2FA, having no backups whatsoever, and mixing private and work accounts all at the same time.

This is one of those things that you should learn from and the least you can do is to have a cheap external HDD and a recent backup of your most important stuff.