It has taken longer than I would have liked, but I've finally stopped actively using GitHub for my own code and data. Nearly 9 months after mentioning the possibility of self-hosting my repositories again (due to GitHub continuing to work with ICE, and compounding that by basically ignoring any comments criticising the decision), I've finally moved to a new provider. I did think seriously about self-hosting, however I prefer not to have to deal with the admin, so I looked for a new host instead. In the end I settled on Sourcehut.

I started experimenting with SourceHut late last year as part of an investigation into a possible replacement for GitHub (using it in earnest for my Cricket Scorecard Accuracy Project), and I've used it for pretty much any new project I've started since then. It takes a little getting used to, but I've gradually settling into having git, todos, mailing lists etc. all separated out. I also really enjoy the speed of the stripped down pure-HTML websites.

After weeks of gradually moving and deleting repositories, tidying issues, and leaving explanatory messages on my already existing public projects (so that people can still find the code, and know why it has moved) I've completed the move of my repositories to SourceHut. This doesn't mean that I've completely left GitHub though. I still have an account so that those existing public projects can be found at their old URLs, I still use Github for work, as well as for submitting patches to other projects, and I've not yet implemented an IndieAuth endpoint to remove my dependency on GitHub for relmeauth; but I've pulled away as much as I can so far. I had already cancelled my paid subscription last year (having left it in place even when they made accounts free), as I couldn't in good conscience give the company any money, despite knowing that many good people work there (including some I know), and that they are vocal in their dislike of the collaboration as well.

I've held out hope that GitHub would drop the ICE contract, but that's not going to happen, and a nice interface and some convenient tools aren't worth it to me. This presumably won't make a difference to GitHub, but it matters to me. That's why if GitHub wouldn't drop ICE, I had to drop GitHub.