[copyleft-next] Use of Gitorious and GitHub

Richard Fontana fontana at sharpeleven.org
Fri Nov 30 17:35:51 UTC 2012


On 11/30/2012 12:04 PM, Kuno Woudt wrote:
> I certainly agree the user interaction design of github is infinitely 
> superior to gitorious.  But being faster, prettier and easier to use do 
> not in themselves seem like reasons to give up your freedom.

True, although I don't see what freedom I'd be giving up. I already
use GitHub (as noted), including for copyleft-next itself but also for
a number of other things, so as long as that's true, even if I am
giving up freedom, I'd be giving it up anyway. So there's no actual
net loss of freedom (for me) in some immediate sense. I can see how
someone who doesn't like GitHub could object that I am supporting
GitHub's existence by using it, but again I already use GitHub anyway.

As a parenthetical comment, with respect to Gitorious, we are all
taking it on faith that Gitorious publishes Corresponding Source for
the web frontend of gitorious.org in the strict AGPLv3 licensee sense.

> (Especially with git, where you can do almost everything you need to do 
> through the git command, with no need for direct interaction with the 
> web frontend of the server hosting the repository).

Yes. I suppose the primary attractiveness of both Gitorious and GitHub
is the "I don't have to deal with hosting this" convenience. The
secondary attractiveness of GitHub, not present with Gitorious, is
that it is a mostly pleasant ("faster, prettier and easier to use" in
your words) web frontend. (Gitorious is almost beautiful in the
intensity of its ugliness.) I think then that the choice ought to be
self-hosting a publicly readable git repository vs. using GitHub.

The tertiary attractiveness of GitHub, and perhaps the most important
issue, is just its popularity. I have imagined that if copyleft-next
is regarded as a GitHub-hosted project, it might attract more
attention, interest and participation (particularly from existing
GitHub users). I have some reason to believe this is true given the
initial experience of having used GitHub for hosting the project.

- RF



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