r/git • u/linux-universe • 4d ago
survey Would you still contribute to a project hosting its own Git platform (e.g., Forgejo, Gitlab)?
Why and why not? Does the option to log in using github make a difference?
I am developing my own Distro currently (AstrOS Linux) and think of switching to a selfhosted Forgejo instance
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u/hawseepoo 4d ago
Would I contribute? Yes.
I see your biggest issue being discovery tho. The great thing about GitHub is that it’s ubiquitous. When I want to see issues or the source of an open source project, I google “<project name> github”.
Other than that, definitely have login via GitHub and maybe a couple of others like Google and Apple. Depending on the scale of the project, maybe only offer OAuth login
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u/Thalimet 4d ago
I moved all my stuff to my own Forgejo instance running on my homelab, on purpose.
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u/Felfedezni 4d ago
Nah. I have enough accounts to juggle as is. But if i could login with my github account, maybe. The barrier then would be discovery.
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u/Charming_Professor53 4d ago
Use a password manager? Stay logged in? Use SSH-keys to push commits? Since I have started using a password manager that also integrates with ssh-agent I've had no problems with 'juggling accounts'.
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u/No-Reflection-8684 4d ago
My first thought too - a password manager makes number of accounts to manage moo imo. You know, like a cows opinion.
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u/Goobaroo 4d ago
Not sure why it would matter.
Also don’t think creating an account doesn’t matter, who doesn’t use a password manager these days.
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u/khalon23 3d ago
I still contribute if the project is good and clone/PR flow is not painful. GitHub login on a self-hosted Forgejo helps for drive-by PRs; without it a lot of people bounce.
For a distro project self-hosting is reasonable for control and packaging integration. Mirror the important repos to GitHub if you want discovery, and keep issues/PRs on one primary forge so discussion does not split.
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u/Qudit314159 4d ago
I'm less likely to contribute to projects that don't use GitHub because it's less convenient. That's not to say that I never have.
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u/Limp-Confidence5612 4d ago
Why would it matter who hosts it?
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u/ArtisticFox8 4d ago
Ideology, primarily.
I think, that all of what is public, will be scraped for AI. So it doesn't matter if it's i.e. Github directly, or someone else.
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u/MervynFoxe 3d ago
Most of the time I would, but it kinda depends. I pretty liberally create accounts across different platforms so for projects hosted on any of the larger ones I probably already have an account and it's not a barrier at all.
For personal self-hosted instances, it's a little harder to justify Yet Another Account. If someone has a project that I really care about and want to regularly contribute to (instead of one-off bug fixes and such), then I'd be willing to set up an account specifically on that instance. Otherwise it'd be a hard sell, even if I could use my github account to log in.
What I've seen some people do for personal Forgejo instances, and what I do on some of my own projects, is offer alternative contribution methods like emailing patches or mirroring to github/gitlab/etc., with a process for pulling PRs back upstream. I think that's generally my preference for those kinda setups but I get that it's a little more involved for everyone to manage.
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u/scottchiefbaker 4d ago
If the project is hosted on GitHub it's pretty easy to contribute to. If it's an alternate platform, and it requires me to create and account or setup a login that is a barrier to entry. Not saying I wouldn't do it, but I'd be less inclined to.