> The tool was so correctly designed, it didn't give way for something like github to be required for it to work. You only needed someone with an IP and port, and you can get a running host. Have a team near you? Run hg serve and you can collaborate immediately.

Why would Git require "something like github" to work? You can just initialize a repository and give people access via SSH. Done. There's no need to even run a Git specific server.

https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Setting-Up-...

> So now we are all stuck with three options: git (github), git (gitlab), and git (bitbucket). Good job, mercurial. You beat git so well, you kicked yourself out the fight.

Bitbucket supported Mercurial for a long time but the support was eventually removed because nobody was using it.

https://bitbucket.org/blog/sunsetting-mercurial-support-in-b...