Time to discuss self-hosted alternatives to GitHub!
First, has anyone simply put a bare git repo on a server somewhere, pushed via SSH, and called it a day?
https://idiomdrottning.org/hosting-git-repos
Do you really need more than a remote to push to and pull from, for your personal projects? If you've tried this, what obstacles did you encounter and what features did you miss?
Next, have you tried a static site generator for browsing git repos? Here's a list of SSGs for git, sorted by latest commit (fresh to stale):
* reporat https://www.ratfactor.com/repos/reporat/
* git-arr https://blitiri.com.ar/p/git-arr/
* depp https://git.8pit.net/depp/
* itsy-gitsy https://git.trevorbentley.com/itsy-gitsy/file/README.md
* pgit https://pgit.pico.sh/
* stagit https://codemadness.org/git/stagit/file/README.html
* gituwa https://git.mcksp.com/gituwa/
* repo2html https://git.m455.casa/repo2html/
#GiveUpGitHub #git #SelfHosting #SSGs #StaticWebsites #StaticSiteGenerators
To avoid self-hosting a full-fledged code forge, you might want to simply store issues in the git repo itself. Have you tried using git-bug, git-issue, or some other decentralized bug tracker?
* https://github.com/git-bug/git-bug
* https://github.com/dspinellis/git-issue
Last time I tried git-bug I failed to import my issues from GitHub and gave up, but maybe it works now, it seems there is a new & more active maintainer.
#GiveUpGitHub #git #BugTracking #issues #SelfHosting #GitBug
If you're worried about hosting anything on the open web because fucking crawlers for LLMs are overloading indie websites, maybe you'd rather browse your git repo via SSH:
https://github.com/charmbracelet/soft-serve
Have you used Soft Serve? Are you aware of any similar projects for browsing git repos over SSH?
Big caveats:
* Charm (the company behind it) has taken VC funding, and therefore is probably doomed
* Last VC round was lead by "Gradient, Google’s AI-focused venture fund". They're all-in on AI bullshit
Finally, if you really need a full code forge, with issue tracking and everything, what is the simplest, most light-weight code forge you can self-host?
Is it Forgejo? "Lightweight: Forgejo can easily be hosted on nearly every machine. Running on a Raspberry? Small cloud instance? No problem!" https://codeberg.org/forgejo/forgejo
That sounds great to me, but is Forgejo simple enough that I won't regret taking on the maintenance burden? Is there something even faster?
> is Forgejo simple enough that I won't regret taking on the maintenance burden? Is there something even faster?
IMO, yes. The code search feature is really great and IMO publishing code over HTTP in a way that looks "familiar" to github has a lot of value.
The app itself is fairly simple, its support for environment variable configuration (docker) is lacking, but once you know that you must modify the config file on disk, its fine.
99% of the maintenance burden for me has been related to spam and scrapers. I've implemented two different custom tools to combat it:
1. proof of work bot deterrent reverse proxy
I developed this at the same time Xe was developing Anubis, its basically the same thing but its mine and I think its Scrypt hash would do more to deter bots from simply solving the hash.
https://git.sequentialread.com/forest/pow-bot-deterrent-rp/src/branch/main/docker-compose.yml
2. invite tokens for new account registration:
You can also just disable new account registration, but I didn't want to do that, I wanted to easily be able to allow people I know to join and contribute.
https://git.sequentialread.com/forest/gitea-registration-proxy
@skyfaller Also if you just want to use someone elses (community hosting instead of self hosting)
You are welcome to join https://git.cyberia.club/, the invite token is the word "stonks"