When Gitea Ltd took over Gitea, they claimed the intention is to solve an alleged sustainability problem. The announcement says “…there are a few corporations […] building on Gitea for core products without even contributing back enhancements. This is of course within the scope of the license, however prevents others from the community from also benefiting.” and “Some companies are unable to contribute back to open source via sponsorship or code contribution. Many more cannot contract individuals due to internal policies.”
However, not only is this the first time sustainability has been mentioned as a problem in over five years of existence of the Gitea project, there also is not a single proof it exists. On the contrary, the Gitea project is one of the few sustainable Free Software projects I know. I analyzed it in depth back in 2021 when filling grant applications for its benefit. The existence of Gitea Ltd cannot be justified to solve a problem that does not exist in the first place.
Continue reading “The Gitea Ltd sustainability smokescreen”