[wikwocket]

For what it's worth, protected branches are pretty clearly listed as a "Github Pro" feature in their pricing page.

I agree that it'd be nice if they warned you about features you're using that will be turned off, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that people requesting downgrades understand which features are in which plan.

Maybe this could be suggested to GitHub's Paperclips project, to avoid future confusion?

[Ensorceled]

Agreed. But there were a lot of people celebrating GitHub’s recent free account changes who were saying you no longer needed the pro account; this is a good reminder that you may need the pro account after all and do that check.

[giancarlostoro]

Downgrading an account for free should always be treated the same as upgrading an account for money. You gotta consider what you gain and lose in doing so before pulling the trigger without looking first.

[endergen]

I read this post as a sharing of a confusion/assumption made. Not everyone reads fine print or manual, but ha will read HN.

[xtracto]

Interesting, protected branches come free in GitLab. I never used Github to host my serious repos (I was using Bitbucket as soon as they started providing Git in addition to Hg).

I would suppose that as time passes by, Microsoft will improve the free offering avaialable on their service.

[dsumenkovic]

Here's the link if anyone wants more details https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/protected_branches.h.... It's available in both Core and Free tiers.