I re-ask this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47979968

If everyone is vibecoding, and SaaS plays have no moats anymore, and everyone says they are mad at Github's reliability...why aren't there like 10 viable replacements already?

Why are you still using Github?

- There are already viable GitHub replacements, like Codeberg, Bitbucket, Gitlab, etc. Everyone stays on Github for network effects, not because of the superior product. You can't vibe code network effects.

- And yes, GitHub is a massive product with like 50 different huge features. No reasonable person would say you can trivially vibecode that. Vibecoding would still make it easier. I feel this argument is a bit silly, no? "Ah, you can't vibecode GitHub in a weekend? That proves vibecoding was a mirage!" Surely even the most fervent anti-AI skeptic must admit there must be some middle ground between "a mirage" and "can literally replace millions of man-hours of work".

My theory is that vibecoded replacements haven't succeeded for the same reason why GitHub's quality has declined: because vibecoding/AI software development isn't as efficient as believed when measuring real-world outcomes.

> SaaS plays have no moats anymore

I have yet to see literally anyone say this.

I have yet to even see anyone claim that software can't constitute a moat anymore but I expect that there are people saying that. GitHub has a huge non-software moat in the form of network effects, brand recognition, and good will.

The hardest part isn't making a "forge", it's making money off of making a forge. Getting a sufficiently large number of paying customers.

If GitHub doesn't get their quality issues under control someone probably will manage to breach that moat and take over the market. It's not like there's a lack of competitors (Pre-llm: GitLab, BitBucket, Gitea, Source Hut, etc. Post LLM: Tangled, esrc is promising something any day now. Probably more in both camps that don't come to mind).

> Why are you still using Github?

Because everyone wants the fake internet points (sorry, stars) to mention on their CV.

Because there are already a number of viable alternatives, them not being chosen has nothing to do with AI coding but other factors like market momentum & network effects and familiarity. They are used, just much less so. If there are already good alternatives, why would anyone vibe code a new one any more than they would write a new one manually? Forges are not sexy stuff, and the existence of numerous decent free ones means that you aren't going to be able to sell a new one in any way (paid accounts, stalking/advertising, …) at least not until it has a significant following and that is unlikely to happen because of the reasons above.

People not wanting to use github (or one of the common alternatives that already exist) are more likely to just use git as-is, and other tolls as needed for issue tracking, CI, etc, than to create a new forge.

Locally, I'm using gitolite+cgit. I was previously using Gitea, but that didn't suit my requirements.

I'm using GitHub for my open source projects as:

1. While GitHub Actions has its issues and doesn't work for everyone, I've found it easy to build and test an IntelliJ plugin against multiple IntelliJ versions.

2. I don't have to pay for and manage the hosting of the git repository.

I run my own Forgejo instance.

I still have a GitHub account I actively use.

GitHub outages and stuff don’t really affect me, so I have no great reason to leave. But I have good reason to stay, because that’s where everyone else is already.

It's a great question. I'm assuming it is due to devs being too lazy to fight the momentum. Go ahead an switch services if five-nines uptime is critical to your codebase. The daily HN complaint isn't going to move mountains for you... oh, maybe next outage then, if you're not too busy? Right..

Claude Code web won't let me use my gitea instance.

> Why are you still using Github?

Show me the VCs who are willing to fund the marketing effort that would be needed to conquer the network-effects moat, and I'm in.

Inertia, because 'every one uses it', network effects, integrations

Because my corporate overlord does

This video suggests OpenAI is actively developing an alternative to GitHub

https://youtu.be/f3u57jkwBFE?si=FJuxZfmc-i7EkPlx

compute??

Github is struggling because of compute, which comes from everyone vibecoding and triggering actions 10x more.

I can vibecode an alternative, but once i have users, who is going to secure this amount of compute? Compute+talent to manage it(devops isnt vibecoded *yet) is a moat

> Why are you still using Github?

Stars. Grifters have discovered vibe-coding and the ability to buy GitHub stars, followers, etc.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=buy+GitHub+stars&ia=web

One (small, stupid) reason for me is claude code works really well the gh cli.