Entwined with Github
Is it still possible to build a free operating system while staying free of Microsoft Github?
One seemingly-plausible option is to simply take an existing distro and remove the applications that are Github-based. The Github-free|Github-free page explores what kind of software is available.
As it says there, the first thing we would need to do is find one that is systemd-free; systemd is developed on Github. Then we would dismiss distros that are developed on Github such as Void Linux or Puppy, at least until they moved or autonomous forks were developed. Unfortunately, there is a little more to it than that.
Claims that software can't be run without systemd are rare, and sometimes complex. GNOME for example, can run without systemd; but critics and fanboys alike have made claims to the contrary, and then sometimes denied the same claims. Either way, it seems like it is getting more difficult to run GNOME without systemd, and requires an increasing amount of work on the part of developers.
Many of the distros famous for being systemd-free are developed on Github themselves; so if you want support for running without systemd to avoid Github, you often find yourself at Github again.
Devuan is one of the better-known ways to avoid systemd, though it uses APT for package management, which uses CPython, which is Github-based.
To avoid relying on Github, nearly all Devuan-based distros would need to replace CPython with PyPy, and hope they could still get APT working. This is unlikely, making Devuan (and distros based on it) exist at the mercy of Microsoft. In theory at least, APT could work without CPython. That might take a lot of work, and a fork of APT.
Debian relies on systemd, which is Github-based. It also relies on APT package management, which requires CPython.
To avoid relying on Github, nearly all Debian-based distros would need to replace CPython with PyPy, and hope they could still get APT working. This is unlikely, making Debian (and most distros based on it) exist at the mercy of Microsoft. In theory at least, APT could work without CPython. That might take a lot of work, and a fork of APT.
Like systemd, OpenRC is based on Github.
At least unlike systemd, OpenRC is not on a mission to get all distros under a single init; it is likely easier to move from OpenRC to a Github-free init such as s6, runit, busybox-init, or GNU Shepherd. But this is still significant work for developers.
The list of affected distros is the worst news: OpenRC is the default init in Gentoo, Alpine, Hyperbola, Parabola, and Artix. A list of distros which are systemd-free, APT-free, OpenRC-free and not based on Github themselves should be very short. If you create one, please let us know. Apart from using OpenRC, Gentoo is also based on Github.
Unity is non-free software which uses Mono, and Free software advocates have discouraged use of Mono for years based on patent issues.
Endless OS is a vast showcase of Unity-based (non-free) applications, and uses Flatpak packaging which relies on systemd. Both Flatpak and systemd are Github-based. Endless OS is developed on Github as well. Mono is Github-based. Not even counting Python-- Endless OS is tied to Github in at least (systemd, Flatpak, Mono, itself) four different ways, but the features that do the most to set it apart from other distros are primarily ones that rely on Github.
Python is a language, and various implementations of that language exist. The most popular implementation is CPython, which is based on Github.
PyPy https://www.pypy.org -- is not developed on Github, and some applications can be "converted to PyPy" simply by changing the shbang line at the top of the script. With that said, it is not so trivial to make everything work with PyPy. Although it supports Python 2 and has good support for Python 3, library support in PyPy is not on par with CPython. Getting APT to work without Github-based CPython is not likely trivial. Many distros have relied on CPython for years, or over a decade.
Many popular 3rd-party libraries for Python are also based on Github. Every program that requires Pygame, Godot or Pyglet-- these libraries are based on Github. The closest thing to them that isn't on Github could be lib2d, which does not have much in common feature-wise with these libraries. If your Python-based software uses a 2D or 3D canvas, you are probably already relying on Github. If you know an exception to this, please let us know.
Github-free|Github-free
Delete_Github|Delete_Github
Delete_Android_Apps_on_Github|Delete Android Apps on Github
One seemingly-plausible option is to simply take an existing distro and remove the applications that are Github-based. The Github-free|Github-free page explores what kind of software is available.
As it says there, the first thing we would need to do is find one that is systemd-free; systemd is developed on Github. Then we would dismiss distros that are developed on Github such as Void Linux or Puppy, at least until they moved or autonomous forks were developed. Unfortunately, there is a little more to it than that.