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Self-hosted Git Server

petekeen.net

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Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#11

Post by zrail »

cnaut wrote: post #10
zrail wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, I'm not super concerned about GitHub disappearing in a puff of octocat ink one day. I know they're around for the long haul and I think they've done great things for open source. No, I'm more concerned about branding. If someone comes to my site and I direct them somewhere else, I lose them. If they stay on my site and browse around, my site's look and feel is indelibly linked with my code, my projects, and…

Is branding the biggest reason for hosting your own git server?

For me personally, I guess the biggest reason is being able to control the user's experience, as well as my own. Plus I think it's neat, and it was a fun project to do on a Sunday afternoon :)

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#12

Post by neumann »

zrail wrote: post #4
michaelmior wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still use GitHub quite a lot, but I've started using a private installation of GitLab[1] for private projects and I quite love it. So far, I've only been using it for myself, so I'll admit I haven't really touched the collaborative features, but it does seem to have a lot of the nice features from GitHub. https://www.gitlab.com/

Yeah, GitLab is great. I wanted a quick solution without many dependencies that would also act as a portfolio, so I went with a custom thing. GitLab is definitely something to consider.

I use GitLab at work, but for home, the amazing GitBucket does the trick and took a total of 30 seconds to install https://github.com/takezoe/gitbucket

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#13

Post by _frog »

lholden wrote: post #9

The fantastic thing about distributed version control systems like GIT is that you never actually have to depend on a single repository. Use Github, Bitbucket, and your own "server" all at once. None have to be read-only. Push and pull from multiple sources. Decide that Github is no longer the place for you? No problem! People contributing to your projects should already know where to push to reach everywhere it need…

Worth noting though, a lot of the value of GitHub in particular, and to a lesser extent many other services, are extra features like issue trackers, wikis and so on that act to lock you in.

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#14

Post by ggreer »

zrail wrote: post #8
jmoiron wrote: post #6

I spent years out in the woods with my own projects page that nobody could find and very few cared about, happily cutting trees down with nary a witness. I wanted control over backups, presentation, availability. I was terrified of relying on services that could disappear. I found self promotion distasteful, and I was happy to do the work just for its own sake, for the enjoyment of that process. But then I wrote some…

Honestly, I'm not super concerned about GitHub disappearing in a puff of octocat ink one day. I know they're around for the long haul and I think they've done great things for open source. No, I'm more concerned about branding. If someone comes to my site and I direct them somewhere else, I lose them. If they stay on my site and browse around, my site's look and feel is indelibly linked with my code, my projects, and…

Ah, but links can work in the opposite direction. Hosting a project on GitHub can drive traffic to your personal site. To give two data points: GitHub is by far the biggest source of referrals for my personal site, and it's the second-biggest source of referrals for Floobits. Even from a purely selfish point of view, hosting on GitHub is worthwhile. People don't find out about Ag[1] because they know about me. They find out about me because they know about Ag. The incoming visitors far outweigh the exits.

There are many altruistic reasons for using GitHub. Users are far more likely to be comfortable with GitHub's UI than your own site's. It's much easier to contribute to a GitHub project than one hosted elsewhere. Many interactions (such as submitting issues) are standardized across projects.

Hosting on GitHub really does benefit everyone.

1. https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#15

Post by stefan_kendall3 »

Nux wrote: post #7

Also check https://github.com/takezoe/gitbucket Installation is as easy as downloading it and running: java -jar gitbucket.war

Disingenuous. What happens when you need to restart your server because of some extreme necessary security patch?

How do you manage backups?

Since it's running on java, you probably don't want to expose this server to the internet unless you actively want to maintain updates to JDK versions. So now you're on the hook for that.

Self-hosting is never "simple".

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#16

Post by HarshaThota »

michaelmior wrote: post #3
taylorlapeyre wrote: post #2

An elegant solution for you, no doubt. However, I couldn't part with the excellent tools that GitHub has developed (and will continue to develop) over the years.

I still use GitHub quite a lot, but I've started using a private installation of GitLab[1] for private projects and I quite love it. So far, I've only been using it for myself, so I'll admit I haven't really touched the collaborative features, but it does seem to have a lot of the nice features from GitHub. https://www.gitlab.com/

For those of you on Windows, Bonobo[1] is a good alternative.

[1] http://bonobogitserver.com/

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#17

Post by maxerickson »

stefan_kendall3 wrote: post #15
Nux wrote: post #7

Also check https://github.com/takezoe/gitbucket Installation is as easy as downloading it and running: java -jar gitbucket.war

Disingenuous. What happens when you need to restart your server because of some extreme necessary security patch? How do you manage backups? Since it's running on java, you probably don't want to expose this server to the internet unless you actively want to maintain updates to JDK versions. So now you're on the hook for that. Self-hosting is never "simple".

I do not believe the GP was trying to be misleading. That's what calling it disingenuous means.

You think it is a bad idea or something.

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#18

Post by geerlingguy »

Here's another example, using Ansible and a few simple roles from Ansible Galaxy: https://github.com/geerlingguy/ansible-vagrant-examples/tree...

Give Vagrant + Ansible about 15 minutes, and you'll have a nice little local GitLab server running. Modify the Ansible playbook slightly, to point it at a VM on Digital Ocean or elsewhere, and you'll have a nice little hosted copy of something like GitHub.

I run an instance of GitLab on a Digital Ocean droplet, and back it up to a cheap RamNode VPS; all my GitHub repos are pulled daily to repos on the GitLab server (for backup purposes—I use the GitHub repos primarily), and I also use this GitLab server as a central repo to which I push changes for my sites/services, and pull from on production servers.

There are many good reasons to put certain repositories on GitHub, and there are some good reasons to host some repositories yourself (or to just have one local working copy, with a backup).

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#19

Post by jerf »

jmoiron wrote: post #6

I spent years out in the woods with my own projects page that nobody could find and very few cared about, happily cutting trees down with nary a witness. I wanted control over backups, presentation, availability. I was terrified of relying on services that could disappear. I found self promotion distasteful, and I was happy to do the work just for its own sake, for the enjoyment of that process. But then I wrote some…

I still feel that way, but I'm more concerned about lock-in than control. I can deal with losing an issue tracker, but at least I'm not going to lose the GitHub repo; I've my own fully-independent copy.

The other advantage of using multiple servers, some private, is that it becomes OK to just push to GitHub when you're "done", because for better or worse, pushing something to GitHub that anybody else uses is de facto publishing it.

Re: Self-hosted Git Server

#20

Post by asdafa »

maxerickson wrote: post #17
stefan_kendall3 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disingenuous. What happens when you need to restart your server because of some extreme necessary security patch? How do you manage backups? Since it's running on java, you probably don't want to expose this server to the internet unless you actively want to maintain updates to JDK versions. So now you're on the hook for that. Self-hosting is never "simple".

I do not believe the GP was trying to be misleading. That's what calling it disingenuous means. You think it is a bad idea or something.

Problem there might be that 'disingenuous' can be a false friend for non-english native speakers...

But I do tend to agree with his comment. Self hosting is never simple, it's one more thing you have to take care of. Yes there might be cases where self hosting something is a requirement but, personally, for all the things that are strictly not work related and things that "just have to work" (e.g.: email, im, code hosting for free time projects) I use third party services, unfortunately I don't have enough time to take care of those things, and since I have to take care of similar things at work, at least for my own spare time I want something that helps me focus on what I really want to do.

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