Like many events, the GitHub Universe conference was forced online as a virtual event this year. But the change in venue did nothing to lessen the number of new features being announced, and there's something every user is excited about. For businesses, the ability to use GitHub's Sponsors feature opens up a new way to make money. Other announcements at GitHub Universe 2020 include the arrival of discussions for all public repositories and auto-merge pull requests. But the feature that will probably generate the most interest is the dark mode. For GitHub developers, discussions can now be enabled in the settings of any public repository, helping to get more feedback and encourage conversation about projects. The Automatic Merge Pull Request feature can also be enabled in configuration when using protected branches, and will be rolled out in the coming weeks. Dark mode, however, is already available. The ability to choose between a dark theme and a light theme on GitHub brings the site in line with many apps and websites that have adapted to the growing demand for eye-saving darker shades. News of Dark Mode's arrival was shared on Twitter for the benefit of anyone not at the GitHub Universe conference:
echo "hello darkness" #GitHubUniverse #Keynote https://t.co/9gQRFt3aqQ pic.twitter.com/HEotvXVJ7R December 8, 2020