Move away from Microsoft Github

[almet]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

The idea of moving away from Microsoft Github has been floating in the air since quite a few years already, and recently surfaced again.

The main issues with Microsoft Github is that it's owned by Microsoft and not Open source.

Moving away from here would allow for:

• relying on open source tools rather than a commercial tool
• not having AI pushed at us increasingly

Also, a bit of FUD on my part, but I'm unsure what their take on the data we publish here is, related to its use by AI bots.

Describe the solution you'd like

We could use another forge, like Forgejo or Gitlab, which provides the same services (git code hosting, code review tool, a CI system, something to track issues). I personally like Forgejo as it's the new cool kid around. We could either use codeberg as a hosted provider or find somebody operating the service for us.

Bear in mind that gitlab.org is using a community edition, and doesn't have all the features of the "paid" version, which isn't entirely open-sourced.

I would be in favor of using codeberg personally.

Describe alternatives you've considered

The alternative I have in mind is to stick with the current solution, e.g. do nothing and keep using Microsoft Github.

Additional context

Maybe it's worth mentioning that:

• When this project started using Github, it wasn't owned by Microsoft, as there were an aquisition in June 4, 2018.
• One of the main reasons for staying here is because it's the main hub where a lot of the activity happens to happen. What would be the implication of moving away?
• I'm willing to offer some help on the move away from here to anywhere.

[yohanboniface]

Yes, let's move, it's time!

Ideally I'd love to make the move together with the OSM France (or even OSM global) community, so it's less a pain for users if all open source project share the same UI, accounts, etc.

I've started talking about this with the OSM France techies, let's see where it goes! :)

[yohanboniface]

See also https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/osmf-should-host-a-forgejo-gitlab-instance/

[almet]

Thanks! Let's see how this discussion goes :-)

We've discussed that if in 6 months (middle of august 2025) there is no viable option to install on an OSM forge instance, we'll move to the best option we can think of.

[vinber]

Not alone 🤣 https://anitagraser.com/2025/03/01/trajectools-is-moving-to-codeberg/