6 ms·

Kinda scary how de facto Github has become, that external tooling is discouraged. Github is a bad issue tracker, a bad code review tool, an ok wiki and a bad di

Kinda scary how de facto Github has become, that external tooling is discouraged. Github is a bad issue tracker, a bad code review tool, an ok wiki and a bad distribution platform. Still, one has to mostly use the whole package to get contributors. (Github has other strengths, though)

giancarlostoro 9y ago
BitBucket is plenty popular as well, I run into projects that are on there instead of GH for Python. I kind of prefer BitBucket to GitHub the only thing GitHub does right is their "Explore" section which I don't think BitBucket has (or GitLab?) but that's about it for me. I don't care where one hosts code, as long as it's not some obscure server.
- matwood 9y ago
  For a long time BitBucket was the only one with the protected branch feature that could prevent history rewrites on a branch by branch basis. Github finally added it after the force push that blew away so many critical repositories. BitBucket also has free private repos. I only use GH for projects that are open source because that's where people expect OSS to be.
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    I use Gitlab and just have it push to Github, then disable issues/wiki/whatever else I can there, and add a link to the Gitlab repo in the description.
- hellofunk 9y ago
  GitHub has always had far superior code search features. BitBucket is gradually trying to add these, but they still pale compared to GitHub. I love just going through a repo by searching for things.
  - giancarlostoro 9y ago
    Except for when you want to search within a different branch.
    - danielsamuels 9y ago
      Or search for any of the non-alphanumeric characters found within every project.
- sytse 9y ago
  GitLab has an explore section https://gitlab.com/explore https://gitlab.com/explore but it isn't as good as GitHub's one. Both to having less projects and us spending less time on it.
  - giancarlostoro 9y ago
    Oh that's nice, found some interesting projects there, thank you. I use all three git sites, I mostly use BitBucket because it was the first one I found with free git repositories, but I use GitLab now for private projects. Thank you again for coming on here and always being willing to respond to anyone asking about GitLab I always appreciated that about you.
    - sytse 9y ago
      Thanks, you're very welcome.
- yellowapple 9y ago
  BitBucket is my default for pet projects nowadays, and it's also what I typically recommend for professional work. Better pricing, direct access to Atlassian's tools (which have their own issues, but are generally pretty popular), and the "projects" feature is nice (I just wish it was usable for personal repos rather than being an organization-only feature).
  - giancarlostoro 9y ago
    We have BitBucket at my job, I think because I showed my code during an interview through my BitBucket account it probably made me look good to my interviewer (now my boss) due to familiarity with tooling we already have. I can use any of them honestly. I use GitLab for private pet projects and BitBucket when I open source my projects, and then mirror to GitHub.
blcknight 9y ago
And it’s not even open source. They don’t follow the development model that so many of its users who are responsible for its success do.
- dannyw 9y ago
  It's ironic. GitHub, a closed, centralized and for-profit platform, has become the sole viable place for open source.
  - zanny 9y ago
    Gitlab works really well. It uses almost the same workflows but if shit hits the fan I can dump my issues and rehost them on a local instance. I'd never host my own stuff on github since gitlab is good enough but doesn't lock me in to as proprietary web service.
bmh_ca 9y ago
Aside: In your opinion what are good issue trackers and code review tools?
- ErikBjare 9y ago
  As someone who doesn't mind GitHub's issue tracker or code review, I wonder the same.
- danpalmer 9y ago
  I'd also be interested in knowing. I also feel GitHub's issue tracker is not right for a large project like this. As for the code review tools though, I've not yet seen something that I feel is materially better than GitHub + PRs + some bot-enabled automation. I understand that many people _prefer_ things like Gerrit, but I've found the difference to mostly be opinion, and that Gerrit can be a significant problem in getting contributions - it's quite hostile on first use.
  - tetraodonpuffer 9y ago
    so you don't mind having review comments disappear if somebody updates the PR, and it doesn't bother you not being able to say in a comment "this needs fixing" in a way that you can mark it fixed later on (and without marking as fixed the PR can't be merged)? Github reviews are fine for a one-and-done merge, but for a back & forth review I really wish it had the above...
    - piotrkaminski 9y ago
      This looks like a good spot to plug Reviewable (https://reviewable.io https://reviewable.io), which addresses the disappearing / untracked comments issues and more, while still integrating with GitHub rather more gracefully than something like Gerrit. While GitHub's PR review tooling has improved in the last year there's still a fundamental difference in philosophy such that Reviewable isn't lacking for customers. :) (Disclosure: I'm the founder.)
      - 9y ago
sli 9y ago
One thing Github does that really bothers me is that if your paid account lapses, you must pay to get your private repos back. You don't have the option to simply set your repos to public. The only options Github gives you is pay money or lose your repos. As far as I care, that's practically extortion. So I moved to Gitlab. Luckily, Github screwed up and temporarily unlocked my private repos, letting me grab the ones I didn't have locally and move them to Gitlab. No opt-out option, no deal, Github. This is something that students should particularly take note of, because it applies to Github Education accounts, too.
- throwaway2016a 9y ago
  That's interesting. I was under the impression they became read-only not completely inaccessible.
- lzy 9y ago
  I believe this is false. The private repos will be locked when you're no longer on a paid account but you can set them to public to regain access. https://help.github.com/articles/unlocking-a-locked-personal-account/ https://help.github.com/articles/unlocking-a-locked-personal...

giancarlostoro 9y ago

BitBucket is plenty popular as well, I run into projects that are on there instead of GH for Python. I kind of prefer BitBucket to GitHub the only thing GitHub does right is their "Explore" section which I don't think BitBucket has (or GitLab?) but that's about it for me. I don't care where one hosts code, as long as it's not some obscure server.

matwood 9y ago
For a long time BitBucket was the only one with the protected branch feature that could prevent history rewrites on a branch by branch basis. Github finally added it after the force push that blew away so many critical repositories. BitBucket also has free private repos. I only use GH for projects that are open source because that's where people expect OSS to be.
- StavrosK 9y ago
  I use Gitlab and just have it push to Github, then disable issues/wiki/whatever else I can there, and add a link to the Gitlab repo in the description.
hellofunk 9y ago
GitHub has always had far superior code search features. BitBucket is gradually trying to add these, but they still pale compared to GitHub. I love just going through a repo by searching for things.
- giancarlostoro 9y ago
  Except for when you want to search within a different branch.
  - danielsamuels 9y ago
    Or search for any of the non-alphanumeric characters found within every project.
sytse 9y ago
GitLab has an explore section https://gitlab.com/explore https://gitlab.com/explore but it isn't as good as GitHub's one. Both to having less projects and us spending less time on it.
- giancarlostoro 9y ago
  Oh that's nice, found some interesting projects there, thank you. I use all three git sites, I mostly use BitBucket because it was the first one I found with free git repositories, but I use GitLab now for private projects. Thank you again for coming on here and always being willing to respond to anyone asking about GitLab I always appreciated that about you.
  - sytse 9y ago
    Thanks, you're very welcome.
yellowapple 9y ago
BitBucket is my default for pet projects nowadays, and it's also what I typically recommend for professional work. Better pricing, direct access to Atlassian's tools (which have their own issues, but are generally pretty popular), and the "projects" feature is nice (I just wish it was usable for personal repos rather than being an organization-only feature).
- giancarlostoro 9y ago
  We have BitBucket at my job, I think because I showed my code during an interview through my BitBucket account it probably made me look good to my interviewer (now my boss) due to familiarity with tooling we already have. I can use any of them honestly. I use GitLab for private pet projects and BitBucket when I open source my projects, and then mirror to GitHub.

blcknight 9y ago

And it’s not even open source. They don’t follow the development model that so many of its users who are responsible for its success do.

dannyw 9y ago
It's ironic. GitHub, a closed, centralized and for-profit platform, has become the sole viable place for open source.
- zanny 9y ago
  Gitlab works really well. It uses almost the same workflows but if shit hits the fan I can dump my issues and rehost them on a local instance. I'd never host my own stuff on github since gitlab is good enough but doesn't lock me in to as proprietary web service.

bmh_ca 9y ago

Aside: In your opinion what are good issue trackers and code review tools?

ErikBjare 9y ago
As someone who doesn't mind GitHub's issue tracker or code review, I wonder the same.
danpalmer 9y ago
I'd also be interested in knowing. I also feel GitHub's issue tracker is not right for a large project like this. As for the code review tools though, I've not yet seen something that I feel is materially better than GitHub + PRs + some bot-enabled automation. I understand that many people _prefer_ things like Gerrit, but I've found the difference to mostly be opinion, and that Gerrit can be a significant problem in getting contributions - it's quite hostile on first use.
- tetraodonpuffer 9y ago
  so you don't mind having review comments disappear if somebody updates the PR, and it doesn't bother you not being able to say in a comment "this needs fixing" in a way that you can mark it fixed later on (and without marking as fixed the PR can't be merged)? Github reviews are fine for a one-and-done merge, but for a back & forth review I really wish it had the above...
  - piotrkaminski 9y ago
    This looks like a good spot to plug Reviewable (https://reviewable.io https://reviewable.io), which addresses the disappearing / untracked comments issues and more, while still integrating with GitHub rather more gracefully than something like Gerrit. While GitHub's PR review tooling has improved in the last year there's still a fundamental difference in philosophy such that Reviewable isn't lacking for customers. :) (Disclosure: I'm the founder.)
    - 9y ago

sli 9y ago

One thing Github does that really bothers me is that if your paid account lapses, you must pay to get your private repos back. You don't have the option to simply set your repos to public. The only options Github gives you is pay money or lose your repos. As far as I care, that's practically extortion. So I moved to Gitlab. Luckily, Github screwed up and temporarily unlocked my private repos, letting me grab the ones I didn't have locally and move them to Gitlab. No opt-out option, no deal, Github. This is something that students should particularly take note of, because it applies to Github Education accounts, too.

throwaway2016a 9y ago
That's interesting. I was under the impression they became read-only not completely inaccessible.
lzy 9y ago
I believe this is false. The private repos will be locked when you're no longer on a paid account but you can set them to public to regain access. https://help.github.com/articles/unlocking-a-locked-personal-account/ https://help.github.com/articles/unlocking-a-locked-personal...