Ask YC: Google Code or Sourceforge | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC: Google Code or Sourceforge

11 pointsyourabi22 comments

I'm starting a new project (GPL apache module)... What do you prefer Google Code or SF.net... reasons?

main reason. It uses git. Another benefit of github is you can pay for accounts that are private, so if you wanted to host proprietary code. Or things that aren't so much proprietary as personally private (backups).

also google isn't supportive of AGPL, I like the AGPL so I can't support them on this one.

if you want subversion you should go with sourceforge.

I'm not sure which vcs system google uses. (on google code; they use perforce internally)

There is also Launchpad for bazaar (bzr) repositories

Honestly just pick the one one with the vcs you want to use.

EDIT: I've rewritten this like 3 times :P sorry. Should read right now.

I'd also like to say... sorry for answering your question in a round about manner and perhaps not the answer you were looking for.

I myself am annoyed when I ask one question about A and people answer it with use B. I just want you to be aware of the alternatives.

google code is also subversion

github seems nice. I'd also like to point out savannah (http://savannah.gnu.org/), which is particularly nice if you intend to use GPL. Also, it's good for leting you know how to properly handle your licenses when you apply for a project.

It uses cvs, svn and git.

Google code.

SF.net, while trying to make improvements, is hobbled with an old design. Google code is much better. And both use subversion.

Interesting choice to GPL an Apache module, though.

I used SF in the past (prior to their svn adoption) and it was slow, lots of forms to fill for a setup, and the process to deliver the downloads was cumbersome.

Google Code requires a free Google Account and a simple form. If you can live with svn, you'll find that its features are simple yet powerful (wiki, downloads page, svn browser, issues tracker). Another thing i like is that you can give admin/commit access to other Google accounts easily.

Launchpad is also a good alternative if your code is under a free license. You'll have the features of bzr, issues tracker and others, and if you're packing for Debian/Ubuntu, you can use Launchpad PPA to build your packages for 32 and 64 bit architectures for free.

xenoterracide: no worries, it was a very helpful reply as I hadn't actually considered launchpad (I always thought of it as an Ubuntu specific project, but clearly I was wrong)

I'm already familiar with SVN, so the lazy me would want to go with that -- but I've been meaning to learn git for sometime, and github might be the way to go.

I thought the basics of git were easy. But I haven't had to play with others yet.

http://git.or.cz/gitwiki/QuickStart

http://git.or.cz/course/svn.html (for svn users)

one thing I just noticed... github offers a wiki for your project but no bug tracker (that I'm aware of) :( I filed a bug with them on it.

and if launchpad offers git support it might be the way to go if you'll need a bug tracker soon. (if you won't I'm sure they'll fix that).

I'm sure GitHub will add a bug tracking system, and in the meantime a simple Wiki is a workable solution for bug-tracking.

If it works for Wikia it can work for me too.

Actually, they interface somehow with Lighthouse, a separate service, for bugs. http://www.lighthouseapp.com/

Beat me to it.

Although I discovered recently that someone had written a Trac backend plugin for Git, which rules. Trac kicks the living shit out of every other issue tracker I have ever seen. You should look into Trac and/or Trac integration regardless of what VCS you us; all useful VC/SCM systems appear to be supported nowadays (alas, no Visual SourceSafe)

http://trac.edgewall.org/

Trac kicks so much ass. Moving to Trac legitimately made my hobby site real amounts of money because people entrusted us with more goodwill as a result of our quicker responses and better communication under Trac.

OOOH LOOKY HERE! A trac-lighthouse comparison:

http://warpspire.com/tipsresources/web-publishing/lighthouse...

AND someone produced a Trac-Lighthouse mirroring tool (not unlike the very useful git-svn SVN-Git mirroring tools):

http://github.com/shayarnett/trachouse/tree/master

This is just too awesome. Maybe GitHub is truly The Way. I haven't been involved with a Big Project on GitHub yet, only Google Code, so take the following with a metric fuckload of NaCl please.

My experience with Google Code has been closest (in terms of communication and transparency) to that of running my own Trac installation. I assume they're converging towards Trac simply because it's the lowest-effort option at a Python shop with an SVN-centric offering.

Github is neat but I have begun to wonder if Git and its toolchain isn't a little discouraging for new/dabbling developers on a germinal project. I use both, although I'm beginning to drift away to Git for new work. Then again, I've been using Unix toolchains for 14 years now. I'm the target demographic for Git.

Oh, fuck it. This post has just become a catalog of useful links and migration tools for me. If it helps you too, so be it, but writing this much means I have to help myself :-)

trac sucks. Why? It's obviously a pita to configure. Because I've never seen a trac setup work right the first time. Most of the time I either can't create an account to file bugs, or I can't create bugs even though I've filed them. I've never seen trac set up right the first time.

Bugzilla must be better as it generally works.

Lighthouse is confusing ( can't figure out what project I'm filing for. If I file for the wrong one it can't be changed, and where is the search again?)

Mantis is supposedly good. Never needed to use a mantis setup though.

Bugzilla must be better as it generally works.

Mantis is supposedly good.

I can't even explain to you how hard these two suck.

If you think Trac is a PITA, try either of the above. I have. There's a reason Trac was written.

Follow the docs and it works right. People who don't follow the instructions manage to fuck it up, but what else is new?

I'm aware of lighthouse. but Haven't seen a way to use it for tracking my own project. (and I currently believe lighthouse has beaten trac on being confusing).

sf.net has a lot of people migrating away because it can be extremely slow, the tracker interface isnt up to scratch, and its quite unreliable (they recently reset everyones password in the middle of an inkscape launch)

launchpad seems to be the best tracker around, but if you dont use bzr, or git, I would possibly just put your code on google code and use launchpad for everything else

Agree, sf.net has too many projects on it and checkin/chekout speed is very slow sometimes. I have a project on Google Code and so far I am happy with it.

I also use github, so far has not seen problems. As ruby on rails moved to git, I believe lots of open source ruby projects may follow.

You're right, you can have your code in svn on Google Code, and setup the project on Launchpad, so the code is automagically imported into a Bzr branch.

I've got a Bzr branch (https://code.launchpad.net/~vcs-imports/gtkfilesplitter/trun...) imported from (http://gtkfilesplitter.googlecode.com/svn/)

how is keeping both current working for you?

Is that automatic, and is it easy to setup? Or do you have to create/import the branch manually?

You can put your code wherever you like but please put your mailing list on Google Groups. Finding stuff in Google Groups is SO much easier then SF.

That may swing your decision.

github seems pretty cool so far,

BUT I don't like that their webpage is kind of sluggish, or that they delegate issue tracking out to a pay service (lighthouse)

in a related note, committing/branching all the time locally and then just doing "git push origin" when I feel like pushing all those changes to github is AMAZING. it really changes the way you deal with rapidly changing code. I'm just learning git but the nerdhype seems strongly justified with this one :)

anything but sourceforge

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