Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Gentoo on Codeberg

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Decentralized, federated hosting is the new direction
- “I’m really looking forward to some form of federated forking and federated pull requests, so that it doesn’t matter as much where your repository is.” – JoshTriplett
- “I’ve been mirroring my GitHub repos to my own forgejo instance for a few weeks, but am waiting for more federation before I reverse the mirrors.” – holysoles
- “GitLab has been talking about federation at least between instances of itself for 8+ years.” – mikepurvis

2. GitHub’s PR workflow and UI are increasingly frustrating
- “I use GitHub because that’s where PRs go, but I’ve never liked their PR model.” – bsimpson
- “Reviewing big pull requests on GitHub became nearly impossible – even with the simplest change view it makes you spend too much time waiting for the page to load the necessary file first.” – xvilka
- “They even have the gall to call it an improved UI for reviewing large pull requests.” – arccy

3. Cost, sustainability, and the appeal of open‑source alternatives
- “I also wonder how this all gets paid for. Does it take pockets as deep as Microsoft’s to keep npm/GitHub afloat? Will there be a free, open‑source commons on other forges?” – bsimpson
- “The reality of good competition is that competitors are built on good, cheap open source.” – positron26
- “Coincidentally, my most‑used project is on Codeberg, & is a filter list for hiding a lot of Microsoft GitHub’s social features, upsells, Copilot pushes, & so on to try to make it tolerable until more projects migrate away.” – toastal


🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

ForgeBridge

Summary

  • Unified platform for creating, reviewing, and merging pull requests across multiple Git forges (GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Forgejo) in a single UI.
  • Enables federated forking and PRs, eliminating the need to mirror or manually sync repositories when migrating away from GitHub.
  • Core value: reduces friction for developers moving between forges and keeps collaboration seamless.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Open‑source maintainers and developers migrating from GitHub
Core Feature Federated PR/issue aggregator with unified review workflow
Tech Stack Node.js + React, GraphQL, OAuth, ActivityPub‑style federation, PostgreSQL
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue‑ready: tiered subscription for enterprise features

Notes

  • HN commenters want “federated forking and federated pull requests” (JoshTriplett, holysoles).
  • Provides a discussion point on how federation can replace GitHub’s centrality.
  • Practical utility: one dashboard for all PRs, no need to switch between forges.

MirrorMate

Summary

  • Command‑line tool and web UI that automates mirroring of GitHub repositories to alternative forges (Forgejo, Codeberg, GitLab) and keeps PRs, issues, and webhooks in sync.
  • Handles credential rotation, webhook setup, and automatic sync of updates, solving the “manual re‑configure mirror credentials” pain point.
  • Core value: eliminates manual maintenance of mirrors and ensures reliable, up‑to‑date copies of projects.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers maintaining mirrors of GitHub repos
Core Feature Automated mirroring with credential management and webhook sync
Tech Stack Go, Docker, GitHub API, Forgejo API, cron jobs, SQLite
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Addresses the frustration noted by holysoles: “Forgejo’s API bug requires manual re‑configuring”.
  • Encourages discussion on best practices for mirroring and automation.
  • Practical utility: one‑click mirroring, continuous sync, no manual intervention.

OpenCI Hub

Summary

  • Self‑hosted, open‑source CI/CD platform that integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, and Forgejo, supporting advanced workflows like Gerrit/Phabricator commit‑based reviews.
  • Provides fast, reliable build pipelines, full CI action parity, and a free tier for open‑source projects.
  • Core value: removes vendor lock‑in and gives developers a free, open‑source alternative to GitHub Actions.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Open‑source projects, dev‑ops teams
Core Feature CI pipeline engine with multi‑forge integration and Gerrit‑style review support
Tech Stack Go, Kubernetes, Docker, GitHub Actions API, GitLab CI API, PostgreSQL
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue‑ready: freemium with paid support and hosting

Notes

  • Responds to bsimpson’s need for “full feature parity with GitHub actions” on alternative forges.
  • Sparks discussion on the viability of a truly open‑source CI ecosystem.
  • Practical utility: run CI on any forge, no proprietary pricing, and support for complex review workflows.

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