The giant Microsoft announced on Monday June 4, 2018, the purchase of the software development company GitHub for $7,5 billion in shares. A takeover that worries the developer community. Some users are afraid that Microsoft would seek to restrict the open nature of the site, or impose certain fees. Others fear that Microsoft is forcing the use of some of its tools.
If you're looking for an alternative platform, rest assured, there are plenty of other open source software sharing platforms that users can explore and improve.
In this article, I bring you a list of 3 best GiHub alternatives that have one common goal: to provide all users with a free unlimited source code database.
Gitlab
Gitlab is the number 1 alternative to Gihub. It is an essential tool for hosting and managing web projects. Presented as the platform for modern developers, it offers the possibility of managing Git repositories where everyone can intervene and modify the source code of the same project without getting lost.
This service includes activity log, code reviews, issue tracking, wikis, and continuous integration.
Note that Gitlab is free software, under the MIT license. This is a forge running on GNU/Linux.
SourceForge
Launched in 1999, SourceForge is a platform for hosting and managing the development of mostly free software, operated by Geeknet and which uses the forge Apache Allura.
SourceForge experienced some difficulties in 2015 due to malware, but has resumed normal operation since January 2016. Site features include an issue tracking system and built-in code repository. It also offers a wiki and offers a subdomain for each project (like “project-name.sourceforge.net”).
bitbucket
Founded in 2009, Bitbucket represents an interesting solution for hosting and managing your Git and Mercuria repositories. You can manage and share your Git repositories to develop and transfer software.
It's a comprehensive service that offers you development management, issue tracking and easy collaboration with other collaborators or developers.