Comment on Leaving GitHub. Music server alternatives?
ar1@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
Not suggesting an app but I think what you plan to do as an effort to boycott GitHub is the most non-productive thing to do…
What if it is a project like OpenBSD, which the active repo is still CVS, but has a read-only GitHub repo for public consumption? I believe a fair amount of open source developers rely partly or even totally on donation, and the popularity of a platform has direct impact to their life support. What you are going to do is the easiest as a totally unrelated onlooker - you deem them to be immoral because they host or mirror the project on GitHub, you judged just like how people do on social media when they hear some company doing evil things, spent probably just a few minutes to write a post and created direct impact.
There are many more better things to do. You know why they are forced to host on GitHub so why don’t you set up a fund that supports developers to not host on GitHub, or as a maintainer who helps projects to mirror on GitHub alternatives and eventually swtich the active repo to the alternatives?
I have great respect to open source developers to bring us a better world. Please think again what is the difference between what you are going to do vs people who ignore all the heavylifting the open source developers did and say “add this feature in the next hour or I will stop using your software, because I think it is the most important thing to do”…
FarraigePlaisteach@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t know if you read the articles I linked or not, but there is a stark lack of empathy in replies like this: full of self interest, void of humanity.
Devs are free to choose other platforms. They don’t face death or famine for doing so. Oppressed people cannot choose their oppressors. If genocide isn’t a red line for you then you have no red lines.
fatalicus@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But why are you asking here though? Considering Lemmy is developed on github?
FarraigePlaisteach@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ll be looking into Lemmy alternatives too.
irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Piefed is on codeberg, it’s compatible with lemmy.
ar1@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
That’s exactly why I replied. I think you are an upright citizen and you and many others know full well how evil Microsoft is. But the most regrettable thing to do will be to start with a noble cause and end up doing harm to people who you should help and protect.
I am not going to drill into anything political here as it is not the right board. But please think about this - helping developers to move away from Microsoft is punishing the evil; Boycotting projects that are hosted on GitHub, in hope of dealing damage to the evil, is not actually doing it. You are punishing open source developers who are contributing to a free world, and not punishing the evil.
Just like in my original reply, there are many things you can do. Codeberg is doing it by providing a better alternative to developers; Richard Stallman started GNU project and provided a big collection of useful software and libraries to help people move away and fight proprietary tools, not just slapping people who used proprietary software; Even if you help just one more open source project to host on Codeberg, people will be able to find one more project on the Codeberg and can choose not to go to GitHub for that…
FarraigePlaisteach@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Thanks for the response. I also feel that open source projects contribute to a better world, but I think we sometimes have a puritanical view of ourselves. We do not make a better world by supporting Microsoft while they enable a genocide. We do the opposite. Using even their free stuff is support. If genocide isn’t a red line for them, then they have no red lines, and I become very uninterested in their games
I also agree that it’s important to be effective. Richard Stallman et al can do what they do, but I’m not one of those people. Just a consumer. It’s important that we exercise the few rights we have (while we still have them).
I’ve been an open source advocate for years. Helped many people migrate to Linux in my free time, submitted as many well formed bug reports as I could and remained available for follow up requests and further debugging.
The thing is: none of this matters if we’re willing to sit on our hands while people die. Our repositories are not so precious. We shouldn’t let our love of software replace our love of humanity.
chaospatterns@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I respect your strong ethics and sticking to them, but saying they people support genocide for using software hosted on GitHub is an extreme position.
Do you drive a car or fly a plane? Then you must have no red lines against climate change.
FarraigePlaisteach@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
And I appreciate the respectful response. “Support” means “contributes to” when I use it. My car does contribute to climate change. The thing is, GitHub is a choice. For some people, driving isn’t a choice due to lack of public transport and distance to work. However if I use my car when there is plentiful public services (but I just like to hear my music at full volume in my car), then that is a choice.
So if I’m driving when I have better options, then my actions do support climate change, and I do so knowingly.