Project Tick Launch: An Independent, Self-Hosted Umbrella Organization Offering Free GitLab Infrastructure for Open Source Projects (No Enterprise AI, No GitHub SaaS Limitations)

Posted by FFroster12@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 6 comments

Hello r/linux,

Like many independent developers here, I've become frustrated by the increasing institutionalization of the open-source ecosystem, the limitations of GitHub SaaS, and the aggressive imposition of AI tools on every development pipeline.

With the goal of creating a safe, independent haven for open-source software, I founded Project Tick, a fully self-hosted, non-enterprise umbrella.

We've migrated all our infrastructure to a self-managed GitLab Ultimate instance via a custom Ruby on Rails orchestration bot (Foreman).

Opening Our Infrastructure to Independent Projects:

We have a good amount of resources and automated tools, with some assistance from GHA. Instead of just hosting our core projects (like MeshMC or MNV), we want to host your independent projects for free and provide enterprise-level infrastructure without sacrificing your freedom.

Our Golden Rules for External Projects:

We believe in developer sovereignty. If you bring your project under the Project Tick umbrella:

* Complete Creative Freedom: We will NEVER interfere with your project's programming language, branding, logo, or architectural choices. Your project will remain yours.

* No AI Restrictions for You: While Project Tick's core internal tools have strict AI usage limits, external projects are free to use AI tools as they see fit. The "Assisted-by" tag is NOT mandatory for you.

* Legal Protection (DCO and CLA): To keep the code legally clean, "Signed-off-by" (DCO) is mandatory for all commits (enforced by our MR bot). A CLA will be required, but this is clearly designed to protect you (the project maintainer), not us.

* SSO Integration: Your contributors and users can seamlessly use our Keycloak-powered SSO (id.projecttick.net) with GitHub, GitLab SaaS, Google, or Microsoft OAuth. And you can log into our GitLab instance with your username and password as is (no SSO).

Seeking Feedback and Early Projects:

If you're running a standalone open-source tool, utility, or desktop application and are tired of GitHub but want to use GHA, or are looking for a self-hosted free GitLab hub:

What are your thoughts on this infrastructure-focused umbrella model?
What are the biggest obstacles preventing you from moving away from GitHub SaaS today?

Let's talk in the comments. If you're interested in getting involved, you can check out our setup or contact us!

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AtAyoub@reddit

I got curious from r/feedthebeast and you even posted here, i understand your good intention. You have too much resources and want to share them since it's a waste if they were idle, but i don't see the vision...

FFroster12@reddit (OP)

Our vision is to create an independent, self-governing umbrella organization that provides more open infrastructure for smaller open-source projects so that developers don't have to contend with DevOps overhead or enterprise SaaS limitations. In short, we are creating an independent, highly optimized ecosystem for standalone tools like MeshMC and MNV to grow under a single organized umbrella.

mina86ng@reddit

Where’s your website? You wrote a lot, but there is no concrete demonstration of what you’ve written about.

PS. What’s GHA?

The instance link is this: git.projecttick.org. GHA stands for GitHub Actions, by the way.

Cachesmr@reddit

Why pick the much, much worse gitlab over forgejo?

Because GitLab, with its subgroups and more features, appealed to me quite a bit. Unfortunately, Forgejo's UI just doesn't appeal to me much...