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Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

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Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#51
post #35
post #10

Why a mail saying that something was deleted instead of a warning that something will be deleted??

If you worked at a company and had a fork of a private repo that company maintained of some software... do you want employees who have left to have their access to the repos removed? or an email that says that it will be removed?

I'd prefer it if the repo was returned to the company, rather than removed.

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#52
post #35
post #10

Why a mail saying that something was deleted instead of a warning that something will be deleted??

If you worked at a company and had a fork of a private repo that company maintained of some software... do you want employees who have left to have their access to the repos removed? or an email that says that it will be removed?

one of many scenarios in which it is probably(!) desirable to revoke access.

What about other scenarios?

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#53

I have a number of git repos that the original developers deleted - because I sync’d them to a usb stick with gitea. I think that is how you have to do it - never entrust a service, especially a free one, with your only copy of anything you value. If the YouTube algorithm nukes your account and all your videos, you should be ready to upload them to a new account. Same with anything else digital. My current is standar…

> because I sync’d them to a usb stick with gitea

Just a tip: no need to use gitea if you want to replicate a git repository to somewhere else on disk/other disk.

Just do something like this:

    mkdir /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo
    (cd /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo && git init)
    git remote add backup /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo
    git push backup master
And now you have a new repository at /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo with a master branch :) It's just a normal git repository, that you also can push to over just the filesystem

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#54
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“But the plans were on display…” “On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.” “That’s the display department.” “With a flashlight.” “Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.” “So had the stairs.” “But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?” “Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Bew…

To clarify the appropriateness of this analogy: This is unexpected behaviour from Github here which may (and has, by the anecdote of OP) cause permanent data loss. Documentation is not good enough, as users should not have been expected to have read the entire documentation.

Is it unexpected though? The repo was forked from an org by the person who was a member of that org.

I know this isn't common but I actually use a unique user for my company "myname-company"

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#55
post #35
post #10

Why a mail saying that something was deleted instead of a warning that something will be deleted??

If you worked at a company and had a fork of a private repo that company maintained of some software... do you want employees who have left to have their access to the repos removed? or an email that says that it will be removed?

What prevents them from having the code locally?

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#56
post #27

> Your private repository baobabKoodaa/laaketutka-scripts (forked from futurice/how-to-get-healthy) has been deleted because you are no longer a collaborator on futurice/how-to-get-healthy. > and now it's gone... why? Because it was a private not a public repo.

so what? Private doesn't imply (common sense) that the original repository has power over any fork.

It does, otherwise github just wouldn't allow forking private repositories. If they did allow that, and retained no control over the forked copy, now you can ride a coach and horses through the access control to a private repo by simply forking it when you have access. My guess is that forking a private repository is a feature github intended to be used where employees or contractors of an enterprise want to fork their employer's repository as part of their development activities for that employer. Github sees those forks as transitively controlled under the organization's access policies.

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#57

This unfortunately makes sense because it is a private repo. Even if a repo is labeled as being MIT and has an MIT license in it, it still may contain other code of a different license. Github could do better by warning the repo owner when they delete a private repo. Github could ask the repo owner if they want to convert it to public first (a "set it free" option) or otherwise give the option to avoid deleting the f…

GitHub is not supposed to make such decisions for the user here. It is user's responsibility to make sure they delete their private forks if they shouldn't have access to the repo/fork anymore.

What's next? Should we all install spyware on our computers and let GitHub automatically delete local copies of forks as well?

GitHub and the company/person, who deleted the original private repo, should inform the owner of the fork that the main repo was deleted. If need be, company/person can request fork owner to delete their private fork and local clone as well.

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#58

I have a number of git repos that the original developers deleted - because I sync’d them to a usb stick with gitea. I think that is how you have to do it - never entrust a service, especially a free one, with your only copy of anything you value. If the YouTube algorithm nukes your account and all your videos, you should be ready to upload them to a new account. Same with anything else digital. My current is standar…

> because I sync’d them to a usb stick with gitea Just a tip: no need to use gitea if you want to replicate a git repository to somewhere else on disk/other disk. Just do something like this: mkdir /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo (cd /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo && git init) git remote add backup /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo git push backup master And now you have a new repository at /media/run/usb-…

Have you tried running gitea? It's very light on resources, has good documentation, and also defualts to a main branch. It's also very easy to control where all the data is stored, and works well w/ sqlite.

Re: Tell HN: GitHub will delete your private repo if you lose access to the original

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because I sync’d them to a usb stick with gitea Just a tip: no need to use gitea if you want to replicate a git repository to somewhere else on disk/other disk. Just do something like this: mkdir /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo (cd /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo && git init) git remote add backup /media/run/usb-drive/my-backup-repo git push backup master And now you have a new repository at /media/run/usb-…

Have you tried running gitea? It's very light on resources, has good documentation, and also defualts to a main branch. It's also very easy to control where all the data is stored, and works well w/ sqlite.

Is the "main" branch an advantage? I guess only if >50 percent of your repos use "main" branch
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