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Cover image for GitHub Copilot goes commercial, Firefox 102, Safari TP 148, Next.js 12.2, Vue 2.7, and more | Front End News #071
Adrian Sandu
Adrian Sandu

Posted on • Originally published at frontendnexus.com

GitHub Copilot goes commercial, Firefox 102, Safari TP 148, Next.js 12.2, Vue 2.7, and more | Front End News #071

NOTE: This is issue #071 of my newsletter, which went live on Monday, July 4th. If you find this information useful and interesting and you want to receive future issues as they are published, ahead of everyone else, I invite you to join the subscriber list at frontendnexus.com.


GitHub Copilot is now available to any developer willing to spend $10/month, although some people will still be able to use it for free. There is already backlash on the ethics of launching a paid product trained on free open source code and the issue of the license used by the code suggested.

In browser news, we find out what's new on the web platform in June and we welcome Firefox 102 and Safari Technology Preview 148.

The releases of the week include Next.js v12.2.0, Vue 2.7, and more. And there is a nice set of fresh Front End Resources for you to use.


GitHub Copilot goes commercial (and what it can mean for open-source software)

GitHub announced that Copilot, their "AI pair programmer", is now "generally available to all developers". For a price. It will cost $10/month, although it's free for some developers.

There is already backlash to this move. Software Freedom Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization that provides support and legal services for open-source software projects, has called for the community to ditch GitHub.

The main issue is that GitHub Copilot is a for-profit service built and trained on countless open-source projects. Another one is that Copilot makes no mention of any licensing affecting the suggested code.

Copilot is not alone in the market. Recently Amazon has launched a similar service named CodeWhisperer. Unlike Copilot though, CodeWhisperer highlights the license that affects the suggested code. There is even the option to select which sources to use. We'll see if all this pressure will cause GitHub to make changes to Copilot.


Browser news

Rachel Andrew provides the June update on changes to the web platform:

Firefox

Firefox 102 is rolling out. New features include the options to disable the automatic opening of the download panel and to mitigate query tracking in Enhanced Tracking Protection strict mode.

WebKit

Safari Technology Preview 148 is out as well, bringing a long list of fine-tuning, fixes, and improvements.


Software updates and releases


Front End Resources

There's more where that came from. Explore the rest of the Front End Resource collection.


Wrapping things up

Ukraine is still suffering from the Russian invasion - if you are looking for ways to help, please check Smashing Magazine's article We All Are Ukraine πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ or get in touch with your trusted charity.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, there are a couple of ways to support it:

Each of these helps me out, and I would appreciate your consideration.

That's all I have for this issue. Have a great and productive week, keep yourselves safe, spend as much time as possible with your loved ones, and I will see you again next time!

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