Support ActivityPub for merge requests (&11247) · Epics · GitLab.org · GitLab
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Gitlab/ActivityPub Design Documents by @oelmekki The goal of those documents is...

Several years in the making, GitLab is now very actively implementing ActivityPub! 🙌

The end-goal is to support AP for merge requests (aka pull requests), meaning git.alice.dev can send a merge request to gitlab.com/Bob/project.git

In the most expansive version of this vision, anyone running an AP-enabled git instance (with one or more repos) can send MRs to another instance’s repo, without having to sign up there.

For starters this will be GitLab-specific, but that’s already huge for self-hosters of GitLab who currently don’t benefit from the internal interop of the GitLab.com network.

First bite-sized todo on the implementation path there is ‘subscribe to project releases’. And yes, they are aware of ForgeFed and will likely make use of that spec for the advanced features of this epic.

Smart move by GitLab; through ActivityPub they’re getting a distributed version of GitHub’s social layer.

Hugely impactful as a way around GitHub’s moat as the de-facto social network of open source development. I follow hundreds of developers on GitHub, though mainly just to keep track of who I’ve interacted with, effectively adding them to a dev-specific address book.

I have a much harder time keeping track of non-GitHub devs on alt platforms, but if I could follow them on the fediverse that’s actually preferable over GitHub’s proprietary follow list.

Cross-posted to Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@erlend/110949168258462158

    • shastaxc@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      10 months ago

      I’m not really following. Can you explain why it would be better? I’ve never had an issue using GitHub.

      • Anafroj@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        47·
        10 months ago

        GitHub is a great platform, which has championed open-source for decades, now. I don’t think anybody has anything to blame them for (except people not liking the idea that AI is trained on their code, like sibling mentioned), it’s more about fears it may go bad. Because basically, it’s where most of the code of the world is hosted, it’s a single point of failure. People also have questioned the pertinence of having all open-source code hosted on a proprietary platform. And the acquisition by Microsoft also had a chilling effect on those of us who remember Internet Explorer 6’s Microsoft more than VSCode’s Microsoft.

        For those reasons, it is desirable for those who love the idea of decentralization to look up for alternatives. But even there, it’s perfectly fine to stay on GitHub, “decentralizing” doesn’t require everybody to leave. :) Plus, even when using an other forge, it’s still good to keep publishing mirrors on GitHub for visibility and discoverability, currently.

      • pjhenry1216@kbin.social
        6·
        10 months ago

        I know a big sticking point for many people is that all code on GitHub feeds into CoPilot.

        I don’t understand how this would help anyone who’s still stuck on GitHub for whatever reason to be able to escape GitHub. GitHub likely won’t support this. I guess it depends on why someone is ‘forced’ to use GitHub still. I’ve seen different reasons mentioned.

    • Delta_44@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      10 months ago

      AHAHAH 😂 You worry about one abandoned MR? Imagine who abandoned, say, 200 MR?

  • QuazarOmega@lemy.lolEnglish
    39·
    10 months ago

    That’s freaking rad!
    I hope federation becomes the new standard for interoperability all over the Internet

    • sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net
      34·
      10 months ago

      There’s lots of talk about “web 3” as regarding some crypto nonsense, but I think activitypub is the next step of the web, where different platforms communicate and you can have your home and you reach out to everywhere you want to be, and it’s all integrated at your home.

      • guywithoutaname@geddit.socialEnglish
        25·
        10 months ago

        There’s lots of talk about “web 3” as regarding some crypto nonsense, but I think activitypub is the next step of the web, where different platforms communicate and you can have your home and you reach out to everywhere you want to be, and it’s all integrated at your home.

        Exactly. The real web 3 is decentralization, with the conveniences of web 2, but with the decentralization of web 1.

  • smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    34·
    10 months ago

    Fingers crossed it’s going to be compatible with what ForgeFed is working hard for years 🤞.

    Gitea/Forgejo/Codeberg have ongoing work implementing this.

  • PlexSheep@feddit.deEnglish
    14·
    10 months ago

    This feels like such a great step in the right direction. I Selfhost gitea, which also has this planned and is working on it, but it’s taking a lot of time. I might consider switching to git lab if they are faster.

  • A10@kerala.party@kerala.partyEnglish
    14·
    10 months ago

    This is a great idea. Gitlab has too many features (bloated) for the average self hoster IMO. I hope forgero/gitea also follow the gitlab to enable activitypub

  • Nils@feddit.deEnglish
    9·
    10 months ago

    This is amazing! Honestly a no brainer feature. Having to create an account just to contribute on one project’s instance is not a great experience currently and the reason I mainly stick to Github.

  • gondwana@feddit.deEnglish
    6·
    10 months ago

    Looking at their epic and list of tickets, they look serious about it.

    This is awesome.

        • pjhenry1216@kbin.social
          2·
          10 months ago

          Ah, well, I don’t think there’s any officially hosted versions on GitLab. I guess it depends on why they chose GitHub, but maybe some attempts can be made to have them migrate if given enough reason that they agree with. So any clones on those other sites would need to pull in from GitHub on their own accord. And unfortunately any MRs into them would need to be replicated on GitHub which I’m assuming is the reason you ask and therefore likely won’t be happy with the answer.

          • sabreW4K3@lemmy.tfEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            I’m happy with your answer, just not the content of it 😂

            You’re spot on, but it would be nice to see all of the Fediverse software move over something that supports ActivityPub. Though, I prefer the UI of Codeberg over GitLab.