While GitHub has a free account, it gets quite expensive when you start paying. And GitHub Pages is a complementary add-on and many of us stayed on GitHub because of nice things like this. I do agree that it isn't their core focus and that people could host their stuff somewhere else for cheap.
However there is something to be said about making encrypted connections the standard. Chrome and Firefox will only support encrypted HTTP 2.0 connections. So if GitHub Pages does not provide HTTPS for custom domains, then it won't support HTTP 2.0. Adding HTTPS support is also the right thing to do given the recent attacks on privacy.
Yes, GitHub Pages is a free add-on that isn't their competency, but in my opinion they should either drop it completely, or support HTTPS. Because otherwise they are keeping the web back due to their popularity.
However there is something to be said about making encrypted connections the standard. Chrome and Firefox will only support encrypted HTTP 2.0 connections. So if GitHub Pages does not provide HTTPS for custom domains, then it won't support HTTP 2.0. Adding HTTPS support is also the right thing to do given the recent attacks on privacy.
Yes, GitHub Pages is a free add-on that isn't their competency, but in my opinion they should either drop it completely, or support HTTPS. Because otherwise they are keeping the web back due to their popularity.