It is occasionally down but the whole point of git is that it's distributed, if you need to deploy when github is down you just do it from your local version.

Assuming you don't rely on submodules for your deploy :)

I read the original post as being about more than just git/blog hosting (from the post's point about once hosting email). If it is only about git/blog hosting, GitHub may be wonderful and fill the need perfectly (I haven't used it yet so I can't comment there).

And the point about VPSs is just as true. Things can go wrong with your own boxes hosted in your own space too.

All of these services are great as they allow small startups to get going with less upfront requirements (ex: setting up a physical machine and finding hosting space). It's still important to take consideration on whatever path you choose to avoid getting bitten hard at the worst possible time.

VPS + off-VPS backups is more expensive than GitHub ;) Well, Except if you're going to host very large repos.

An VPSes (especially the very cheap ones) go down as well. So I think it's ~ the same.

Have you checked out http://prgmr.com/xen/? With their cheapest yearly plan and something like https://www.backblaze.com/, you can get a VPS and off-site backups for about $10 a month.

I'm not on prgmr yet but I've heard good things. And Backblaze is awesome.

I was thinking about going prgmr. But it took them ~ a month to install more servers and re-open signups. Yes, they're cheap. But I wouldnt trust them for anything production-stage. What if their server fails? Will they replace parts in 1 hour? I think GitHub is much more reliable in this case...