GitHub to Codeberg: my experience

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Perceived Reasons for Moving Off GitHub

  • Multiple comments connect recent migrations (e.g., Zig) to:
    • Ongoing downtime and performance problems.
    • Heavy AI focus: Copilot, code harvesting, and a sense that GitHub’s main “product” is training data.
    • A feeling that core features and UX have stagnated while infrastructure is pushed toward Azure.
    • Broader distrust of Microsoft due to Windows “enshittification,” AI push, and forced OS transitions.
  • Debate over AI training:
    • Some argue any public code will be scraped anyway; others dispute this and focus on licenses and private repos.
    • Concern that GitHub’s ToS allows use of code regardless of license, and even for mirrored projects.
    • Several link to “Give Up GitHub”–style arguments; others say most developers don’t care enough to move.

GitHub’s Remaining Moats

  • Free CI/GitHub Actions is called the main practical moat, viewed as a loss leader that’s hard for small forges to match.
  • Strong network effects: documentation, examples, hiring familiarity, and social discovery of projects.
  • Some say GitHub’s value is primarily social; others stress integrations and CI/CD over social features.

Alternatives and Trade-offs

  • Codeberg / Forgejo:
    • Attractive for FOSS and philosophical reasons (nonprofit, less AI, copylefted core).
    • ToS around private repos is seen as confusing and restrictive for commercial work.
    • Provides free CI via Forgejo Actions and Woodpecker, but capacity-limited and pitched as something to use sparingly (energy/cost framing divides opinion).
    • UX largely copies GitHub; some appreciate familiarity, others wanted innovation. Complaints include slow issue search and frequent bot-check interstitials.
    • One commenter migrated then returned to GitHub due to lower visibility and collaboration.

Other Platforms

  • GitLab: feature-rich, self-hostable; criticism of large-MR limits and long timelines for fixes.
  • Sourcehut: praised for speed, design, Mercurial support, and CI; criticized for email/patch workflows, unfamiliar UI, and weak org/permission features.
  • Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, Gitea/Forgejo self-hosting mentioned; Bitbucket gets strongly negative reviews.

Federation, Identity, and Coordination

  • Discussion of Tangled (ATProto), Forgejo federation (ActivityPub), and Nostr/GPG-like identity as ways to decouple hosting from discovery.
  • Migration off GitHub framed as a “collective action problem”: individually costly, collectively beneficial if enough projects move.