Bonum Certa Men Certa

Maintaining the 'Delete Github' page

By figosdev

GitHub RepositoriesSummary: "This list really is a starting point, which can hopefully increase awareness about the issue of concern."

THE primary goal of the Delete Github page is an early-warning system for projects that Microsoft has undue control over -- they can restrict access, delete projects, or (perhaps in a worst-case scenario) either deliberately modify a project download as SourceForge once did, or simply act a vector for malicious activity -- as has already happened to Gentoo and Canonical.



"At this stage there is an effort to be as comprehensive as possible -- to include as many mainstream Free software projects as we can, to give people a better idea of how many projects are potentially threatened by a monopoly."As with higher quality warning systems, including all anti-malware software, false positives are a known possibility. Some care is taken to avoid them, simply to increase the quality of the list itself. At this stage there is an effort to be as comprehensive as possible -- to include as many mainstream Free software projects as we can, to give people a better idea of how many projects are potentially threatened by a monopoly.

Admittedly, there is a lower threshold of evidence to get on the list than to be removed. While people may decide to make decisions based on this list, we hope they would double-check our findings first. This is research, it is not law -- the list includes IceWM, which I use routinely, and JWM, which I have running as a process as we speak. It includes Leafpad, which I am using to type this very line of text. If we find evidence that WordPress is using Github (and there is a repo for it, I haven't checked it yet and it isn't on the list yet) it is unlikely that Roy will decide to remove it from the Techrights servers.

"To some of us, this list is like an endangered species list -- we are concerned about the future of projects that are hosted on Github."If a clerical error places an allergy you don't have on your medical records, it is very possible that when this error is found, a single line will be drawn through the note. That is the sort of response that will most likely come of discovering errors in the list. A prominent note (perhaps in bold text) is the most likely correction.

To some of us, this list is like an endangered species list -- we are concerned about the future of projects that are hosted on Github. And we are most eager to update the status of each one (even possibly Systemd, not necessarily for any wishes of success.)

But how can we know that we are in error? Certainly there is some level of assurance we can be given, most likely we will try to re-evaluate items that are called into question as our priorities allow. But we can check on the first one during the writing of this article:

"We will also probably use this lowercase convention for projects that abandon Github for other repos -- if it's all lowercase, that means we no longer believe the project is relying on Github.""OpenBSD does not use Github for development at all Roy. They do not even use git!"

"I'm sure there are others in the list that also do not use github."

Hopefully so. And by no means is Wikipedia a facts-only source of information, but if we simply grep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBSD:

$ leafpad <(wget -O- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBSD | tr ">" "\n" | grep ithub)

We get this:

<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://github.com/openbsd"

"When this list started, it was a completely manual process."Now, it's possible that OpenBSD doesn't use this repo. If so, the article should be corrected. Let's increase the quality of this check and visit the actual article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBSD

Ah, now -- one of the not-yet-implemented (though already considered) quality checks is to verify if the Github link is in the summary box (or whatever it's called, I'm not a Wikipedian) on the top right. Selecting it and right-clicking, "View Selection Source" we find this is probably called an "infobox" and that it begins with:

<table class="infobox vevent"

It completes with "</tbody></table>" which we can use in the future to parse infoboxes.

Doing a further search for our Github link, we find the non-url text of our link is in the "External links" section, titled "Github mirror".

"There are still checks in place, but in the writing of this article we have found things we can do to refine the process."What have we learned:

1. The Github link isn't in the infobox section, which decreases the significance of the link.

2. The official repo is https://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ this is actually the most pertinent information.

3. The text of the very link that put OpenBSD on our list was labeled "Github mirror" which isn't necessarily criteria we want or need to add projects to this list.

"Obviously people who are more intimately familiar with these projects are encouraged to help us, as arm did."I would say this warrants a correction, which I will issue now before the article is finished. Since the first letter of every list entry is capitalised, we will make it easier to parse / automatically filter corrected entries by making the title all lowercase: OpenBSD -> openbsd. And... updated. Thanks to arm for setting this straight.

We will also probably use this lowercase convention for projects that abandon Github for other repos -- if it's all lowercase, that means we no longer believe the project is relying on Github.

When this list started, it was a completely manual process. Since then, (only) some aspects have drifted towards rudimentary automation. This has produced a more complete list, with a slightly higher tendency towards false positives. There are still checks in place, but in the writing of this article we have found things we can do to refine the process.

"For the moment, the highest priority is still adding to the list, so we may not double check every existing entry right away."Even after items are added, we can use this new information to double-check the entries (even all at once.) That doesn't mean this will happen today, but it may ultimately make it easier to discover when projects abandon Github, which would be a bonus. Obviously people who are more intimately familiar with these projects are encouraged to help us, as arm did.

For the moment, the highest priority is still adding to the list, so we may not double check every existing entry right away. This is the stage where the list is built as large as possible, within reason and utility.

At no point has the process become entirely automated, though I did just parse all of English Wikipedia for Github entries. Wikipedia will not be (is not) our only source, entries do not automatically go from discovery to inclusion (they are checked further, and also chosen manually for relevance, but please feel very free to suggest items you think are worth adding) but we will now try to slightly refine the process of adding new entries, first.

"We also want to encourage projects to leave Github."We want everybody to realise that Github holds more mainstream projects than many of us thought. We also want to encourage projects to leave Github. We already know that GNOME and KDE mostly have their own repositories, though at the moment it appears that Kate for example, may use Github for something (that is still being looked into.) It's surprising to discover gnuradio on Github -- we are also aware that some of these (like OpenBSD) are just mirrors.

This list really is a starting point, which can hopefully increase awareness about the issue of concern. As awareness increases, we fully expect the quality of this information to be further refined -- not unlike the software projects listed here as talented people review them and contribute to the sources.

Thanks again, you've helped make this list better than it was when we started.

Licence: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (public domain)

Recent Techrights' Posts

Traf-O-Data, the Company That Jeffrey Epstein's BFF (Bill Gates) (Co)Founded 53 Years and Went Out of Business Due to Heavy Losses
Who will die first, Bill or Microsoft?
A Note on SimilarWeb
Or why SimilarWeb is meaningless for more than 99% of the sites on the Web
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States
the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux
The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
 
Links 04/04/2025: LLM Slop Bubble Bursting and Korea Music Copyright Association Bans Slop 'Music'
Links for the day
Why Microsoft's Shares Sank Almost 20% in Recent Months (the Bubble is Imploding)
verified press reports from the past 24 hours
GNU/Linux Rises to Almost 5% in Algeria While Windows Sinks to All-Time Low
GNU/Linux grew tenfold
Where to Get More Gags
A valued reader recommended that to us
Links 04/04/2025: Tech Stock (Inc. GAFAM) Fall, Google Pretends to Do End-to-End Encrypted Emails (With Google in Control)
Links for the day
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software
Not for the first time either
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia
That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web