TL;DR
A developer is leaving GitHub for Forgejo due to concerns over ownership, trust, and recent platform issues. The move aligns with broader shifts, including the Dutch government’s adoption of Forgejo for public code.
A developer has announced they are moving their code repositories from GitHub to a self-hosted Forgejo instance, citing ownership and trust issues as primary reasons.
The migration started in April 2026, with the developer hosting Forgejo v15 LTS on a dedicated NUC, and plans to archive their GitHub repositories once the transition is complete. This move mirrors actions by the Dutch government, which launched code.overheid.nl, a Forgejo-based platform for public sector code, citing legal ownership and digital autonomy as core reasons.
Despite recent outages, the developer states that outages are not the main reason for leaving. Instead, they highlight concerns over GitHub’s ownership structure, recent corporate changes, and data privacy issues. GitHub’s outages from May 2025 to April 2026 totaled over 112 hours of downtime, with major incidents affecting features like Actions and Copilot. Additionally, GitHub’s integration into Microsoft’s AI division and the removal of its independent CEO have eroded trust.
Why It Matters
This shift reflects broader concerns within the developer community about platform ownership, data privacy, and the influence of corporate interests on open-source development. The move away from GitHub signals a desire for greater control over source code and aligns with governmental trends towards self-hosted, open-source solutions for transparency and legal compliance.
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Background
Since its acquisition by Microsoft in 2018, GitHub has experienced significant organizational changes, including the departure of its CEO in August 2025 and its integration into Microsoft’s AI-focused division. The platform has faced increasing outages and reliability issues, partly attributed to the surge in AI-driven features and load, with GitHub’s CTO acknowledging the need for capacity growth. Meanwhile, the Dutch government launched code.overheid.nl using Forgejo in April 2026, citing legal ownership and autonomy as key factors. These developments highlight a growing mistrust in proprietary cloud-hosted platforms among developers and public institutions.
“My canonical Git host is now code.jorijn.com, running Forgejo v15 LTS on a single NUC in a hardened setup.”
— the developer
“The platform was born from the requirement that the ministry has to legally publish its source code on a place that it owns.”
— Boris Van Hoytema, project manager for Dutch government
“Capacity needs to grow 30x to keep up with AI-driven load.”
— GitHub CTO Vlad Fedorov
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What Remains Unclear
It remains unclear how many other individual developers or organizations will follow this migration trend. The long-term stability and feature parity of Forgejo compared to GitHub are also uncertain, as Forgejo is less widely adopted and may lack some integrations present in GitHub. Additionally, the full impact of GitHub’s corporate restructuring on user trust and platform reliability is still developing.
private source code repository
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What’s Next
The developer plans to complete the migration by archiving remaining repositories on GitHub and pointing them to the new Forgejo instance. Monitoring the stability and feature development of Forgejo will be key, alongside ongoing assessments of GitHub’s reliability and corporate direction. Further institutional adoption, like that of the Dutch government, may influence broader community shifts toward self-hosted solutions.
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Key Questions
Why is the developer leaving GitHub?
The developer cites concerns over ownership, trust, recent outages, and GitHub’s integration into Microsoft’s AI division as primary reasons for migrating to Forgejo.
What is Forgejo, and why is it chosen?
Forgejo is an open-source, self-hosted Git platform derived from Gitea. It offers full control over source code, aligning with needs for legal ownership and digital autonomy, as demonstrated by the Dutch government’s adoption.
Are outages the main reason for leaving?
No, the developer emphasizes that outages are not the primary concern. Instead, they focus on ownership, corporate influence, and privacy issues as driving factors.
Will this trend affect the broader developer community?
Potentially, as more developers and institutions seek control over their code and data, especially amid concerns over platform reliability and corporate influence. The migration by the Dutch government signals institutional support for self-hosted solutions.
