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Hi Chris, GitLab CEO here. What do you think about mentioning Gitlab.com as an alternative for people to move to? It has unlimited (private) projects and unlimi

by sytse 12y ago

Hi Chris, GitLab CEO here. What do you think about mentioning Gitlab.com as an alternative for people to move to? It has unlimited (private) projects and unlimited collaborators. It is based the open source GitLab project.

some_furry 12y ago
I second this motion. GitLab is amazing. It's open source and easy to deploy on your own hardware so you don't need to trust another provider. Github is really great for the social experience, but I've been debating switching over to GitLab for all of my development projects.
- sytse 12y ago
  Thanks for the love furry! We're seeing more people switch, including many from Gitorious. We try to combine the advantages of a good interface and free repositories.
  - gjtorikian 12y ago
    > including many from Gitorious That's a bit disingenuous. GitLab purchased Gitorious--of course people are switching.
    - sytse 12y ago
      Sorry, it would have been better to say we acquired them, thanks for noting this.
      - xasos 12y ago
        BTW, One of your testimonials on your landing page bashes Gitorious (which no longer exists and is part of your company): > “Gitlab is an excellent option….. not only more user friendly than Gitorious but also easier to install.”
        demarq 12y ago
        more of a comparison than a bash, lets be fair.
        sytse 12y ago
        We indeed try to focus on extra features and options GitLab has.
        sytse 12y ago
        Thanks! I've just removed it https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/commit/64a6309ef62d4a1ebd0f2ffa3dfb8f239e0698f7 https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/commit/64a6309e...
ocdtrekkie 12y ago
Obviously, they specifically closed it because everyone uses Github. I think the key selling point though for you guys, is not putting code on other peoples' servers at all, which is unlikely to be Google Code alums.
- sytse 12y ago
  Thanks, people hosting their own servers currently are the majority of GitLab users. But we also want to be a valid hosted alternative with GitLab.com and we think free (private) repos with extensive functionality is a pretty sweet deal.
pdknsk 12y ago
https://about.gitlab.com/ https://about.gitlab.com/ "Better than GitHub" That's quite a motto.
- morbius 12y ago
  It's a ballsy and maybe foolishly ambitious motto, but in Gitlab's case they actually deliver on it -- which, considering the current monopolization of project hosting is quite a feat unto itself.
  - sytse 12y ago
    Thanks Morbius!
- kzhahou 12y ago
  It makes them sound petty and actually-probably-worse. Just say you're the best git host. Don't mention your competitor. I'm going to go create an account on it now. Good luck, guys!
  - sytse 12y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion. The first question anyone asks us is how we compare with GitHub, so we figured we answered it right on the homepage. Awesome that you'll give it a spin, I hope you like it.
  - mlinksva 12y ago
    That motto links to an excellent explanation https://about.gitlab.com/better-than-github/ https://about.gitlab.com/better-than-github/ IMO not mentioning competitors and not providing a detailed comparison to competitors means that marketing is winning and the market is failing. Kudos to gitlab for providing info which helps the market work. Opposite of petty! :)
    - sytse 12y ago
      Thanks mlinksva!
cdibona 12y ago
It is a very nice system, but the stuff that goes into a shutdown had me fighting to keep the message as tight as possible. I wanted to go on about Bitbucket, gitlab, and put in a long discussion about how this doesn't effect the scalable git team at google at all (we host android and chrome and a ton of internal teams on a git backed on our backends here) , but had to keep the message pure... But I heartily recommend people look at Gitlab...
- notsony 12y ago
  Rather than recommending a specific Git hoster such as Github, you should have listed out alternatives... especially as Google Code also supports Subversion and Mercurial.
  - crumpled 12y ago
    But, they wrote a Google Code to GitHub exporter tool. They felt the need to make a customer friendly egress tool, but not write a dozen of them. I think developers kinda know where they want to land already, and if they don't, they could do a google search, which would ultimately result in them using Github or Bitbucket, in all likelihood. From a user action perspective, if you give a user who doesn't know what their options are too many options, they won't take action. They'll feel the need to explore all the different paths, and feel anxiety about making the right choice. I think giving users fewer things to think about is actually better a lot of the time.
    - notsony 12y ago
      Yes, good for customers to have a friendly exit path, but I'm sure Google are capable of writing a Google Code to AnyGitHostingCompany exporter tool :-)
  - sebastiank123 12y ago
    Subversion & Mercurial? Then actually just RhodeCode (https://rhodecode.com https://rhodecode.com) is the only alternative since it supports Git, Mercurial and Subversion. Disclaimer: I am RhodeCode's co-founder.
the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
I really don't think that blog post is the place to pitch code hosting websites. Github (and to a lesser degree bitbucket) are websites that are exactly in the space where Google Code and before that Sourceforge were. Gitlab is not.
- ericfontaine 12y ago
  I think it is fair to for GitLab to pitch their service, considering that the google code blogspot post specifically mentioned both GitHub 8 times and Bitbucket 3 times, while GitLab offers similar functionality. It would have been fairer for the blog to not-specifically endorse anything or post a link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_code_software_hosting_facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_code_soft...
  - the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
    > I think it is fair to for GitLab to pitch their service, considering that the google code blogspot post specifically mentioned both GitHub 8 times and Bitbucket 3 times, while GitLab offers similar functionality. The only thing similar between gitlab and github is that they do something with version control. Gitlab is not a place for open source projects. The projects with the most stars on gitlab s gitlab itself with 221 stars right now. Even the smallest nodejs project achieves that popularity on github. There are many other hosting services like gitlab, what would make gitlab different so that it would deserve a pitch there?
    - sytse 12y ago
      Obviously GitHub is much larger, but some projects are moving to GitLab, such as GnuTLS https://twitter.com/GnuTLS/status/573155639683248128 https://twitter.com/GnuTLS/status/573155639683248128 Bitbucket is also mentioned even though they don't have a lot of public projects. GitLab is open source, has a great interface, many features (protected branches, git-annex support) and we offer unlimited (private) repositories on GitLab.com
BinaryIdiot 12y ago
I've used GitLab before as an enterprise type installation and it was okay but I had no idea you offered GitHub like hosting. When I visit your site it looks like there are no free options but Google Code was meant to house open source projects for free just like GitHub and BitBucket. Do you have free hosting for open source? If not then I don't think it makes sense for them to mention your service. Edit: As pointed out below GitLab.com actually has free public and private repository hosting. It took me a while to find it on the website. That's pretty cool!
- jszymborski 12y ago
  Both open and private repos on GitLab are free :D
  - BinaryIdiot 12y ago
    Okay thanks I found that info here https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-com/ https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-com/ Figured I'd find it on the home page or under pricing or something.
    - sytse 12y ago
      It is the third link on the homepage, that says "Sign up for GitLab.com with unlimited free (private) repositories and collaborators.". But we're open to suggestions to make it more obvious. It is hard to communicate downloads and a saas.
      - BinaryIdiot 12y ago
        Ah for whatever reason I didn't see that at all.
        sytse 12y ago
        No problem, it is not that obvious, any suggestions how to make it more findable without messing up the other options are welcome.
FlyingSnake 12y ago
We use GitLab internally, and it's an amazing piece of software. It's open source, easy to setup and is pretty robust. I would love to see the option to move from Google code to GitLab.
- sytse 12y ago
  We do too, it would be nice if someone can contribute an importer.
  - matt_brushlabs 12y ago
    I certainly hope GitLab uses GitLab internally. ;)
    - randx 12y ago
      We do use GitLab for GitLab development :)
hasenj 12y ago
Bitbucket also has free private repos
- sytse 12y ago
  Sure, but you are limited to 5 users for private repositories https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/BITBUCKET/Plans+and+billing https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/BITBUCKET/Plans+and...
- 4ad 12y ago
  Only for up to five people.
turingbook 12y ago
I think that GitLab should compete directly with GitHub in open source projects hosting area. Free open tier is powerful tools for letting more people know you. And for the whole community's benefits, we need another choice other than GitHub.
- sytse 12y ago
  We agree, and the good thing is, we do! You can have public projects on GitLab, and projects like GnuTLS and F-droid are already there.

by sytse 12y ago

some_furry 12y ago

I second this motion. GitLab is amazing. It's open source and easy to deploy on your own hardware so you don't need to trust another provider. Github is really great for the social experience, but I've been debating switching over to GitLab for all of my development projects.

sytse 12y ago
Thanks for the love furry! We're seeing more people switch, including many from Gitorious. We try to combine the advantages of a good interface and free repositories.
- gjtorikian 12y ago
  > including many from Gitorious That's a bit disingenuous. GitLab purchased Gitorious--of course people are switching.
  - sytse 12y ago
    Sorry, it would have been better to say we acquired them, thanks for noting this.
    - xasos 12y ago
      BTW, One of your testimonials on your landing page bashes Gitorious (which no longer exists and is part of your company): > “Gitlab is an excellent option….. not only more user friendly than Gitorious but also easier to install.”
      - demarq 12y ago
        more of a comparison than a bash, lets be fair.
        sytse 12y ago
        We indeed try to focus on extra features and options GitLab has.
      - sytse 12y ago
        Thanks! I've just removed it https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/commit/64a6309ef62d4a1ebd0f2ffa3dfb8f239e0698f7 https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/commit/64a6309e...

ocdtrekkie 12y ago

Obviously, they specifically closed it because everyone uses Github. I think the key selling point though for you guys, is not putting code on other peoples' servers at all, which is unlikely to be Google Code alums.

sytse 12y ago
Thanks, people hosting their own servers currently are the majority of GitLab users. But we also want to be a valid hosted alternative with GitLab.com and we think free (private) repos with extensive functionality is a pretty sweet deal.

pdknsk 12y ago

https://about.gitlab.com/ https://about.gitlab.com/ "Better than GitHub" That's quite a motto.

morbius 12y ago
It's a ballsy and maybe foolishly ambitious motto, but in Gitlab's case they actually deliver on it -- which, considering the current monopolization of project hosting is quite a feat unto itself.
- sytse 12y ago
  Thanks Morbius!
kzhahou 12y ago
It makes them sound petty and actually-probably-worse. Just say you're the best git host. Don't mention your competitor. I'm going to go create an account on it now. Good luck, guys!
- sytse 12y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion. The first question anyone asks us is how we compare with GitHub, so we figured we answered it right on the homepage. Awesome that you'll give it a spin, I hope you like it.
- mlinksva 12y ago
  That motto links to an excellent explanation https://about.gitlab.com/better-than-github/ https://about.gitlab.com/better-than-github/ IMO not mentioning competitors and not providing a detailed comparison to competitors means that marketing is winning and the market is failing. Kudos to gitlab for providing info which helps the market work. Opposite of petty! :)
  - sytse 12y ago
    Thanks mlinksva!

cdibona 12y ago

It is a very nice system, but the stuff that goes into a shutdown had me fighting to keep the message as tight as possible. I wanted to go on about Bitbucket, gitlab, and put in a long discussion about how this doesn't effect the scalable git team at google at all (we host android and chrome and a ton of internal teams on a git backed on our backends here) , but had to keep the message pure... But I heartily recommend people look at Gitlab...

notsony 12y ago
Rather than recommending a specific Git hoster such as Github, you should have listed out alternatives... especially as Google Code also supports Subversion and Mercurial.
- crumpled 12y ago
  But, they wrote a Google Code to GitHub exporter tool. They felt the need to make a customer friendly egress tool, but not write a dozen of them. I think developers kinda know where they want to land already, and if they don't, they could do a google search, which would ultimately result in them using Github or Bitbucket, in all likelihood. From a user action perspective, if you give a user who doesn't know what their options are too many options, they won't take action. They'll feel the need to explore all the different paths, and feel anxiety about making the right choice. I think giving users fewer things to think about is actually better a lot of the time.
  - notsony 12y ago
    Yes, good for customers to have a friendly exit path, but I'm sure Google are capable of writing a Google Code to AnyGitHostingCompany exporter tool :-)
- sebastiank123 12y ago
  Subversion & Mercurial? Then actually just RhodeCode (https://rhodecode.com https://rhodecode.com) is the only alternative since it supports Git, Mercurial and Subversion. Disclaimer: I am RhodeCode's co-founder.

the_mitsuhiko 12y ago

I really don't think that blog post is the place to pitch code hosting websites. Github (and to a lesser degree bitbucket) are websites that are exactly in the space where Google Code and before that Sourceforge were. Gitlab is not.

ericfontaine 12y ago
I think it is fair to for GitLab to pitch their service, considering that the google code blogspot post specifically mentioned both GitHub 8 times and Bitbucket 3 times, while GitLab offers similar functionality. It would have been fairer for the blog to not-specifically endorse anything or post a link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_code_software_hosting_facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_source_code_soft...
- the_mitsuhiko 12y ago
  > I think it is fair to for GitLab to pitch their service, considering that the google code blogspot post specifically mentioned both GitHub 8 times and Bitbucket 3 times, while GitLab offers similar functionality. The only thing similar between gitlab and github is that they do something with version control. Gitlab is not a place for open source projects. The projects with the most stars on gitlab s gitlab itself with 221 stars right now. Even the smallest nodejs project achieves that popularity on github. There are many other hosting services like gitlab, what would make gitlab different so that it would deserve a pitch there?
  - sytse 12y ago
    Obviously GitHub is much larger, but some projects are moving to GitLab, such as GnuTLS https://twitter.com/GnuTLS/status/573155639683248128 https://twitter.com/GnuTLS/status/573155639683248128 Bitbucket is also mentioned even though they don't have a lot of public projects. GitLab is open source, has a great interface, many features (protected branches, git-annex support) and we offer unlimited (private) repositories on GitLab.com

BinaryIdiot 12y ago

I've used GitLab before as an enterprise type installation and it was okay but I had no idea you offered GitHub like hosting. When I visit your site it looks like there are no free options but Google Code was meant to house open source projects for free just like GitHub and BitBucket. Do you have free hosting for open source? If not then I don't think it makes sense for them to mention your service. Edit: As pointed out below GitLab.com actually has free public and private repository hosting. It took me a while to find it on the website. That's pretty cool!

jszymborski 12y ago
Both open and private repos on GitLab are free :D
- BinaryIdiot 12y ago
  Okay thanks I found that info here https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-com/ https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-com/ Figured I'd find it on the home page or under pricing or something.
  - sytse 12y ago
    It is the third link on the homepage, that says "Sign up for GitLab.com with unlimited free (private) repositories and collaborators.". But we're open to suggestions to make it more obvious. It is hard to communicate downloads and a saas.
    - BinaryIdiot 12y ago
      Ah for whatever reason I didn't see that at all.
      - sytse 12y ago
        No problem, it is not that obvious, any suggestions how to make it more findable without messing up the other options are welcome.

FlyingSnake 12y ago

We use GitLab internally, and it's an amazing piece of software. It's open source, easy to setup and is pretty robust. I would love to see the option to move from Google code to GitLab.

sytse 12y ago
We do too, it would be nice if someone can contribute an importer.
- matt_brushlabs 12y ago
  I certainly hope GitLab uses GitLab internally. ;)
  - randx 12y ago
    We do use GitLab for GitLab development :)

hasenj 12y ago

Bitbucket also has free private repos

sytse 12y ago
Sure, but you are limited to 5 users for private repositories https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/BITBUCKET/Plans+and+billing https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/BITBUCKET/Plans+and...
4ad 12y ago
Only for up to five people.

turingbook 12y ago

I think that GitLab should compete directly with GitHub in open source projects hosting area. Free open tier is powerful tools for letting more people know you. And for the whole community's benefits, we need another choice other than GitHub.

sytse 12y ago
We agree, and the good thing is, we do! You can have public projects on GitLab, and projects like GnuTLS and F-droid are already there.