---
title: "Before GitHub"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/before-github-jjxtuvtbh
source_url: https://lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/4/28/before-github
type: article
source: "Armin Ronacher"
published: 2026-04-28T21:24:15.193Z
updated: 2026-04-28T21:28:45.570Z
tags: ["open-source", "github", "version-control"]
reading_time: 12
upvotes: 95
comments: 5
language: en
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Before GitHub

**[Armin Ronacher](https://daily.dev/sources/mitsuhiko)** · 12 min read · 95 upvotes · 5 comments

## Summary

A personal reflection on the evolution of open source hosting from self-managed Subversion/Trac setups and SourceForge, through Bitbucket, to GitHub's dominance. GitHub transformed open source by removing friction from publishing and contributing, accidentally becoming a critical archive and trust layer for the entire software supply chain. Now, with GitHub showing signs of decline — leadership vacuum, AI noise, product churn — notable projects are migrating to alternatives like Codeberg. The author argues that decentralization may restore autonomy but risks losing the social context (issues, discussions, release history) that GitHub preserved. The core call to action: the open source community needs a publicly funded, endowment-backed archive that preserves source code, release artifacts, and project context independent of any single company's business model.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://lucumr.pocoo.org/2026/4/28/before-github>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@jibonkrishnaroy** · 3 upvotes

> Thank you for the information

**@aayanzaidi** · 1 upvotes

> Sad to see GitHub dying.

**@a\_meb\_a** · 1 upvotes

> an era has ended

**@subterraneanxiu** · 0 upvotes

> I've been seeing a lot of this sentiment going around the internet lately.  The one good thing about closed-source software is its adversary, open source community and their genius-driven right to offer all with an alternative or two or plenty.

**@tanvirtopsecret** · 0 upvotes

> Thank you for the information

## Similar posts on daily.dev

- [GitHub has alternatives, but no replacement](https://daily.dev/posts/github-has-alternatives-but-no-replacement-63ee3iwna) · Hacker News · 62 upvotes · 15 comments
- [Why developers are ditching GitHub for Codeberg and self-hosting alternatives](https://daily.dev/posts/why-developers-are-ditching-github-for-codeberg-and-self-hosting-alternatives-0ah7apnuh) · Hacker News · 164 upvotes · 37 comments

---

Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#version-control](https://daily.dev/tags/version-control)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/before-github-jjxtuvtbh)