Project status

[tkashkin]

My GitHub account has been restricted due to US sanctions as I live in Crimea.
I may not be able to continue maintaining GameHub in future.

---

I haven't been able to find an actual restrictions list.
https://help.github.com/en/articles/github-and-trade-controls only states that:

For individual users, who are not otherwise restricted by U.S. economic sanctions, GitHub currently offers limited restricted services to users in these countries and territories. This includes limited access to GitHub public repository services for personal communications only.

I don't know what can and can not I do. Here is the list of restrictions that I have noticed:

• I can't create new private GitHub repositories

  
• My existing private repositories are disabled. Nothing can be accessed in web UI. git clone returns 403.

  
• I can create public repositories but can not delete them
  Update: now for some reason I can delete repos, how does that even work 😕

I'll update this list if I notice something else.

[Saroufim]

Is it possible to continue development on other platforms such as Gitlab? Perhaps GNOME's gitlab can be a suitable home.

[tkashkin]

Is it possible to continue development on other platforms such as Gitlab?

I'll see if there is anything other than blocked GitHub Pages preventing me from continuing to use GitHub.

GitLab may be a suitable solution. However that depends on GitLab instance:

• https://gitlab.com is not working here without a VPN since they moved to Google cloud some time ago.
  Even if it worked now there's a risk of similar sanctions being applied in future.
• https://gitlab.gnome.org works. Does their instance actually allow to host non-GNOME-related projects?

[Saroufim]

* https://gitlab.gnome.org works. Does their instance actually allow to host non-GNOME-related projects?

Yes, check this out: https://gitlab.gnome.org/World

Apparently, they allow 3rd party apps that are designed for or affiliated with GNOME. If this fits the project scope then you can host it there. If you would like, I can look into more options for github alternatives. It would be sad to see this project end due to a political issue.

Perhaps we could raise money for a cheap VPS not located in the US and host gitlab on there?

[tkashkin]

@3n-k1 I think I have enough money to buy a VPS myself. However some people have asked about ways to donate so it's an interesting idea.

Alternatively I can try to host it myself. I have a public IPv4, 300 Mbit/s internet channel and unused old hardware lying somewhere.

But I don't think there's much sense in trying to self-host a single git repo.
GitHub has many useful features and it's safe to assume that many of people interested in GameHub already use GitHub.
Discoverability is also a very important factor. I don't think many people will find GameHub on a self-hosted server somewhere and I don't think many of them will report issues there either.

[zebh]

Might be worth mailing the legal teams for gitlab.gnome/gnome to see if they are forced to abide by US trade sanctions.

Another option might be bitbucket since they are run by Atlassian, an Australian company. Likewise I would suggest sending a mail to verify.

@Saroufim unfortunately Gitlab is a US-based company as well, so even if tkashkin could access it, the same problem would likely materialise. 🙁

[misyltoad]

You can always use https://git.froggi.es at least as a mirror.

I'm willing to offer you automatic, non-expiring builds for every push if that interests you at all.

🐸 ❤️

[tkashkin]

@Joshua-Ashton Thanks, I'll keep that in mind if I decide to migrate from GitHub.

[Kabouik]

Discoverability is also a very important factor. I don't think many people will find GameHub on a self-hosted server somewhere and I don't think many of them will report issues there either.

I also think that this is a very important aspect. Reporting a bug with your pre-existing account that you use for many other things is very different from subscribing somewhere obscure (and anything less famous than Github can be considered obscure when one has to register; hence everything), filling in your e-mail address, waiting for the confirmation e-mail, and then reporting a bug where you expect fewer people will comment.

On the one hand, I really hope the Github restrictions are manageable, but on the other hand working with suboptimal tools and the risk of having even more drastic restrictions on your project in the future really is not motivating. And given the limitations you already noticed, it doesn't look particularly encouraging with Github.

I suppose Gitlab and Bitbucket are the best alternatives in terms of number of users, but would be surprised if the user base was even remotely comparable to Github's. There is also https://teknik.io/, which I'm pretty sure is not hosted in the US, but I don't remember where are the servers and could not find the information now.

Alternatively, are there any tools out there to automatically mirror a project on two different platforms, and maybe synchronize issues too? This would allow moving the project on a platform where you have no restrictions, but have a tool automating synchronization on Github to keep it running here too and keep the user base. You would still get the Github coverage, the project would look like it is maintained here, and it would, but in case the restrictions get worse in the future, everything would be on your other repository too, including issues. This is probably stupid, excuse my ignorance.

Or something like this, if it's not too much extra hassle: https://moox.io/blog/keep-in-sync-git-repos-on-github-gitlab-bitbucket/

[misyltoad]

Understandable, I wasn't proposing it to be the primary source.

Github is still the primary source for D9VK... but I still mirror on Frog Git and provide builds for every commit going back since the start through that 😄

🐸

[kybernetyk]

oh wow, centralization is bad. who would have thought.

[misyltoad]

oh wow, you're an idiot. who would have thought.

The very idea of git is that things are decentralized and pushing elsewhere is simply just adding another remote.

[kybernetyk]

reported