Introduction: A Necessary Shift
Migrating from a well-established source code management platform like GitHub to a self-hosted solution such as Forgejo might seem radical. However, this decision is driven by growing needs for data control and security. With the technological landscape evolving and GitHub's recent strategic decisions, it's crucial to reconsider where and how we host our code.
GitHub and Its Current Challenges
GitHub, acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion, recently logged 257 incidents between May 2025 and April 2026, including 48 major ones. These outages are just the tip of the iceberg. On April 24, 2026, GitHub changed its policy so that user interaction data from Copilot is automatically included for AI training, without a repository-level opt-out. Furthermore, US jurisdictional risk under FISA Section 702 and the CLOUD Act remains unresolved, raising serious questions about data security.
Why Forgejo?
Forgejo, a fork of Gitea, offers a fully open-source solution, ensuring complete independence. Unlike GitHub, Forgejo does not subscribe to default opt-in policies for AI, offering increased digital autonomy. This platform allows compliance with legal requirements for source code publication, as demonstrated by the Dutch government with the launch of code.overheid.nl on Forgejo.
Benefits of Self-Hosting
By self-hosting on Forgejo, you maintain full control over your data. This means you can tailor the infrastructure to your specific needs, optimize performance, and ensure security. Additionally, costs can be reduced by avoiding expensive subscriptions.
Technical Implementation
The transition to Forgejo is not just a philosophical decision but also a technical endeavor. My Forgejo instance runs on a single NUC with a KVM-isolated, weekly rebuilt Actions runner. This setup ensures resilience and security for continuous operations.
Conclusion: A Controlled Future
By choosing Forgejo, I prioritize autonomy and security for my projects. This change is not only a response to current challenges but also an anticipation of future needs. If you're considering a similar change, Forgejo is a solid option to consider.
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