Post by @tomgag@infosec.exchange

And now, after banning vaguely-defined "LLM-generated code", Codeberg bans cryptocurrency projects. Discussion:

https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/org/pulls/1254

The specific ban is for "Content that harms the reputation of Codeberg, such as cryptocurrency related projects".

https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/org/commit/f383b648fd733ab88083dc390b91e77cd7589980

I think the reputation of Codeberg has been now harmed enough. When I originally escaped GitHub, I chose Codeberg exactly for the ethical stance and values. For me, anti-censorship is a non-negotiable ethical value. The folks at Codeberg have the right to run their org as they want. However, having now shown that they consider "censorship" good when it's about things they dislike, this made clear that their values and mine are not compatible (even if I dislike those same things, mind you).

Supporters of this ban say that this "draws a line", that "is not meant to be applied blanket-wide to all projects, only those which are harmful to the community", as if having constantly to worry about the next mood swing of Codeberg voting members were an acceptable Sword of Damocles for any reputable project. What's next? Banning US users? Banning software aligned with "capital-fascist" values? Open-source banking/wallet apps? Quantum computing tools? Robotics?

I'm moving off Codeberg, probably to Radicle. But I feel a bit sad, because Codeberg had the potential, in my opinion, to become the European alternative to GitHub, and they have made clear that they are not ready nor willing to become so. Which is fine: software is political, and everyone has the right to express their political stance.

But we still desperately need an alternative to GitHub.

#codeberg #drama #github #radicle #politics #opensource #bigtech #eu #europe #europa #usa #digitalsovereignty #ethics #censorship #crypto #web3 #blockchain #ai #llm #vibecoding

Cookie monster!

Codeberg.org

Proposal for Assembly 2026: Disallow cryptocurrency projects

Context: - https://forum.codeberg.org/d/82-taking-a-stance-against-cryptocurrency - https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/Community/issues/794 - https://codeberg.org/Codeberg/Community/issues/2184

#web3 #blockchain #ethics #radicle #vibecoding #europa #crypto #drama #github #usa #politics #bigtech #eu #censorship #llm #digitalsovereignty #opensource #europe #ai #codeberg

3 Replies

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adingbatponder

@adingbatponder@fosstodon.org 5 hours ago

@tomgag I agree. Thanks for speaking up. There is much positive feedback about the move to bad LLM code on #codeberg. It risks strengthening liberal big tech by leaving it dominant. I use LLMs to help build tested #nixos #flakes that run my machines, yet I now worry my fleet setup processes using codeberg could be ruined by other's decisions. That is why dependence on large platforms is risky & this move has proven this. I use #radicle & #reticulum #rngit as a backup for Codeberg as it is flaky.

Jérémie Zimmermann🎶💗🧀🫖

@jz@piaille.fr 4 hours ago

@adingbatponder @tomgag I understand your frustration. hope you find something that meets your needs.

I am rather happy with the decision. A collective decides together, takes political decisions i support...

An "alternative to github" would be a site that hosts everything and everyone, that would necessary need a multi-billion$-company to operate, and would lose money if not for selling its user's data.

I am happy if we do not have "equivalents to github", which means to have sites that will have to restrict what they host. They voted against what they consider harmful, maybe other sites will vote against other things...

Let 1000 non-equivalents bloom!

adingbatponder

@adingbatponder@fosstodon.org 2 hours ago

Yes. Like countries and democracies, every organisation has to make the decisions it believes are necessary. I respect that. My point is simply that #Codeberg has become system-critical to my work, including infrastructure built with #LLM assistance for #Nix. I now have to fear that a key part of that infrastructure could be removed without warning. 1/2