[maratd]

> Without that, how would they validate who is a student vs not?

What? Why would they need to?

Those "perks" are only appealing to somebody who's learning or a hobbyist. They are absolutely worthless to a professional. I will burn through them in a week.

Github is just trying to market this to kids. It has nothing to do with learning or providing a better value proposition. It's all about hooking them into your brand early. Nothing wrong with that, but that's what it is.

[kendallpark]

> It's all about hooking them into your brand early.

Yup. That's how Amazon Prime got me. Free Prime for students? Well, four years later I'm hooked and pay full price.

Ingenious marketing strategy.

[pbhjpbhj]

Well it's worked for many years for Microsoft too.

Adobe, do it as well I think, though they're close to a monopoly with Photoshop.

Have people become so accustomed to using your software that it's easier for them to pay for it than to transition to another company's products or indeed to go with FOSS alternatives.

It's the drug dealer model: first hit is free.