Thoughts on Leaving GitHub

The author reflects on frustrations with GitHub, such as Microsoft's use of open-source code for Copilot, but notes these issues do not personally bother them. They plan to migrate public repositories to Codeberg and host private repos on their own Synology server to reduce reliance on big tech, while keeping their GitHub account as a redirect marker. The decision is framed as a personal choice to enhance privacy and independence, not a protest against GitHub's practices.

I've read a few posts about people leaving GitHub recently, and following my short note to the Fediverse a number of people have piped up saying they're not fans of GitHub, either. From the reading I've done, these frustrations are usually threefold: In all honesty, none of the factors above really bother me that much. I think that's because I don't rely on GitHub for anything significant. I'm not a professional software developer, so my livelihood doesn't depend on it. As for Copilot being trained on open source software, and them repeatedly ignoring the GPL to do so, it does irk me, but I kind of expect shit like this from Microsoft at this point. I went into using GitHub assuming that any code I upload there can and probably will be used for shitty stuff. But even that isn't enough in isolation to put me off GitHub. The way I see it is that public code is for the public, and if Microsoft want to use my code in that way, while not ideal, doesn't piss me off that much. So why think about moving at all? Well, for me it's about reliance on big tech. I'm trying to reduce it where possible, but the social and "centre of mass" aspects of GitHub are giving me pause. For example, the Simple.css repo has a whopping 5,000 stars Do I really want to lose that visibility? Buuuuuuuuuut, I can always redirect any popular repos to another platform, just like I did with 512KB Club when I handed that to Brad. Plus, let's be honest, it's all just popularity bullshit. It doesn't really mean anything. What's important is that the code is readily available for people to use. It's like leaving Facebook - when I was thinking about it, I was worried if I'd miss my friends or be out the loop. It's been over a decade at this point and I don't miss it one bit - no regrets whatsoever. I think moving off of GitHub would be the same. I plan to slowly start migrating public repositories over to Codeberg so that all my projects are hosted there. I'll also use it as an opportunity to archive off any old repos that I no longer need. Codeberg also supports logging in with GitHub and Gitea, so anyone who contributes to my projects on GitHub, should be able to do so easily in Codeberg too. Then, for my private repos of which there are many that host personal projects I've installed Synology's Git server on my Synology, and have been playing with that for a few days. It works extremely well, so all my private repos will live there, safe and sound, away from Microsoft's greasy mitts. Ultimately it's personal choice. For me it's about reducing my reliance on big tech, but also making my private repos more private. I won't be deleting my GitHub account though, as I think it will be important to use as a marker for anyone who wants to find my source code when it moves. Have you thought about leaving GitHub? Thanks for reading this post via RSS. RSS is ace, and so are you. ❤️ You can reply to this post by email, or leave a comment.