Alternatives to Github for contributing to Scryer Prolog development?

[triska]

Dear all,

on February 20, Github will require two-factor authentication to log in. Personally, I am not interested in providing any additional data to Github or installing an app or any other complication to access this platform.

At the same time, I am very interested in contributing to Scryer Prolog and following its development and the interesting discussions.

I therefore would like to ask: Are there any other interesting platforms and solutions that might be useful to develop Scryer Prolog together? In particular: If Scryer Prolog development remains on Github, then how can one best contribute after leaving the platform, or if one does not have an account on this platform?

Thank you a lot!
Markus

[bakaq]

If what you are looking for is an alternative forge, i think SouceHut is the most interesting one. It lets you contribute even without an account! The other obvious alternatives are Gitlab and Codeberg (which runs on Forgejo).

The obvious problem with migrating to one of those platforms is accessibility. It is way easier to find contributors on Github, and that is the reason most projects stay here. Zig and postmarketOS (this one is on GitLab actually) both considered migrating to SourceHut at some point but backed out because of this.

I guess you could send patches by email and have another person merge them into Github "manually". git has really great functionality for doing this, and it's how SourceHut works (but more automated) and how contributing to the Linux kernel works. But this is a bit complicated, and in the case of Github this would put the burden on someone to do this manually.

You could also just bite the bullet and do 2FA, although I completely understand this is a step too far for many people. I use this extension to do 2FA in Github (they forced me back in January). It's much easier that I expected, and I even migrated to another system since then and it wasn't that hard.

[aarroyoc]

Another 2FA option is the Yubikey (or similar keys). I have it paired with this account on GitHub (work company policy) and works without trouble on all OS/browsers I've tried (even mobile devices, but requires having NFC I think).

[aarroyoc]

Note that SourceHut is not free, as in "money" (it's free now as it's in alpha state) although I think it only requires payment for the person hosting the project.

[triska]

Thank you a lot for these awesome suggestions, they are extremely helpful!

A browser extension to make the more complicated login possible without additional devices is extremely valuable!

SourceHut seems very interesting, I like the thoughtful design of the page.

[bakaq]

Note that SourceHut is not free, as in "money"

Yes, but just like Gitlab and Forgejo you can selfhost it in the worst case.

[UWN]

Github will require two-factor authentication to log in.

Could one explain in a nutshell what the precise implications of this are?

[bakaq]

You need a second factor apart from you password to get in. This is so that if someone knows your password, it isn't enough to enter your account. This second factor could be something like sending a code to your phone by SMS (very bad second factor), or using an app/extension to generate a code for you. It is kind of inconvenient, as you have to either give more info about yourself (email or phone number) or install something extra (authenticator app or extension).

[haijinSk]

Give Up GitHub!, Software Freedom Conservancy, 2022

[bakaq]

Also relevant, by the founder of SourceHut: https://drewdevault.com/2022/03/29/free-software-free-infrastructure.html