Move to self-hosted

[photm5]

GitHub sucks for lots of reasons. Some of them are:

• Lots of things cannot be done without running proprietary JavaScript
• They are a centralized service
• Their backend is not free software (by that, I mean sth. similar to the AGPL)
• Issue tracking data cannot be exported
• You cannot create pull requests without a GitHub account

Thus, I propose to host stuff ourselves. A simple git repository and mailing list would suffice for the beginning. That would solve all of the points above.

[sternenseemann]

yawn

[photm5]

I’m tired of GitHub too. Could you explain your opinion a bit more?

[sternenseemann]

I think this issue is useless. Moving from anywhere to somewhere is always a pain in the ass. The biggest problem is that nobody will find the project to easily or we will have some kind of dead repo here. Moving issues is also painful and a mailing-list can't replace Github issues.

Key Problems:

1. Replace Github issues (best way would be to write a small program that can manage a issue git repository)
2. People will have dificulties to find our project
3. What server? (Though I plan to get myself a decent one by the next couple of days)

Also I was kind of tired of this discussions – from a rms point of view you're totally right but Github is just convenient and it lowers the hurdle for 90% of the developers to contribute.

[photm5]

Moving issues is also painful and a mailing-list can't replace Github issues.

Why can’t a mailing list replace GitHub issues? Did you look at the GNU bug tracker?:

https://debbugs.gnu.org/

It’s a bit more than a mailing list, but it’s roughly what I meant.

1. Replace Github issues (best way would be to write a small program that can manage a issue git repository)

Do you mean exporting data from GitHub issues is a pain? You’re right, that’s why I’m proposing to migrate to something else as early as possible, so we don’t enlarge the problem.

1. People will have dificulties to find our project

We can have this repository link to it.

1. What server? (Though I plan to get myself a decent one by the next couple of days)

The server doesn’t have to be too powerful, so a small single board computer in a corner would suffice.

[sternenseemann]

That is what I meant: Mail is not made for bug-reports. The GNU Bug reporter is just a fancy thingy on top of a mailing list. A git repository would make much more sense in my opinion.

[sternenseemann]

so we don’t enlarge the problem.

Just fix the issues :p

[photm5]

Just fix the Problem :p

That’d be GitHub’s job. As I said, the backend is sadly not free software, so we cannot fix it ourselves.

[photm5]

That is what I meant: Mail is not made for bug-reports. The GNU Bug reporter is just a fancy thingy on top of a mailing list. A git repository would make much more sense in my opinion.

A git repository for issues would be a nice idea too, but it’s usage might not be as intuitive to everyone. Maybe there should still be a mailing list plus some automation that adds the mails as comments to the git issue system.

[photm5]

Just fix the issues :p

Fixing the issues and starting with an empty issue system would mean losing the closed issues though.

[pajowu]

I my eyes switching from github would not make sense for you, but should you do it take a look at Gitlab. It has most/all features of github and can be self hosted

[froozen]

I agree 100% with @shak-mar. Moving the project from here to a self-hosted server is the best option. GitHub is nice, but having to enabling JavaScript and allowing cookies is something I don't want. I don't see why we should be using a proprietary platform to develop free software, if there are so many free software solutions.

[sternenseemann]

to enabling JavaScript and allowing cookies

Interwebs my friend. Just stop using the interwebs.

[sternenseemann]

@pajowu GitLab is a huge pile of shit. It is slow and painful to set up.

[Profpatsch]

The only issue are github Issues really.

The two solutions I see are

1. Plaintext org-files
2. http://bugseverywhere.org/

I already researched Distributed Bug Tracking Software a while ago and be seemed to be the most sensible of the lot. You will of course lose most of the ability for people to easily contribute to your project.

[photm5]

You will of course lose most of the ability for people to easily contribute to your project.

I think that is way better than forcing people who want to contribute to use GitHub.