Independent platform for source code provision

[linux-lukas]

A. Problem / Goal

Since the purchase of GitHub by Microsoft in 2018, a dependency on the BigTech corporation can no longer be denied.

I see this as dangerous for free and open source software and hardware projects, even if I can understand why GitHub was chosen in principle.

The goal in the medium and long term would be to become independent from GitHub and thus from Microsoft. The Gitea-based Codeberg project from Codeberg e. V. in Berlin would be a good choice here.

B. Solution

My considered solution to the problem described in A. would be the following:

1. a user of the OpenTopo project creates a user account on https://codeberg.org/
2. this user creates an organisation for the OpenTopo project.
3. a "personal access token" is created on the GitHub account, which has appropriate rights to the organisation repositories, using the developer options in the settings.
4. all repositories would be migrated with this access token into the ownership of the organisation created in step two.

C. Alternatives

A possible alternative would be to perform the first three steps as described in B. A possible alternative would be to perform the first three steps as described in B., and modify the fourth step to include a mirror of GitHub. So that all issues and such that would be created in the GitHub repository would be transferred to the Codeberg repository.

D. Responsibilities

I would see the primary responsibility as being with the main project managers of the OpenTopo project.

E. Comments

I became aware of this, in my opinion, super open source project through the mention in the "LagederNation" podcast, the weekly politics podcast by Philip Banse and Ulf Buermeyer in episode 297 (Link: https://lagedernation.org/podcast/ldn297-johnson-tritt-zurueck-gruene-taxonomie-osterpaket-verabschiedet-corona-politik-russland-rueckt-vor-welzers-negativer-frieden-digital-services-act-beschlossen-interview-alexandra-geese/). Ulf had casually referred to this project at the end.