this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026
516 points (95.7% liked)

Privacy

46827 readers
1454 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Github has made it impossible to create an account when using a VPN and a privacy browser with fully spoofed hardware identifiers. (Use Firefox or Firefox-based Privacy Browser, VPN, install Canvasblocker to test this.) I create an account with Google or Apple (both requiring hardware identifiers and numbers and birthdates) or I can use an email. When I use an email, it comes back with this horrible test, and even if I do it completely correctly, it tells me after I didn't do the test right, gaslighting me with a picture of what I chose (which I didn't choose) and showing me the correct picture (which I did choose and it claims I didn't select).

It's fucking bullshit and it's more corporate control of open source software. For people who have their discussion or issue tracker, I can't even participate without hardware identifiers likely linked to me some other way and phone numbers. It's fucking bullshit. If anyone from Microsoft is reading this, FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

I am so tired of this bullshit. I just want to post an issue about a piece of software. You don't need my fingerprint, hardware or personal, or biometric shit. This is a slippery slope. Fuck them.

I really hope more developers just get the fuck off Github. Honestly, if you are developing privacy-oriented software and using github, there's a mistmatch and it's bullshit, and I know it's time consuming and annoying to move, but please do. This is fucking bullshit and it's not like it's going to become LESS annoying over time. FUCK THIS.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 0x0@lemmy.zip 21 points 1 day ago

CodeBerg is the way, or host your own forgejo.

[–] lithiumground@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago
[–] gokayburucdev@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

If something is controlled by a giant corporation and keeping your data and privacy are offered for free, the price is your personel data.🔏

[–] Cantaloupe@lemmy.fedioasis.cc 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What a great ad for codeberg.

[–] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

Also a great ad for GitLab.

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] kalpol@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

Also just, you know, git

[–] herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml 29 points 2 days ago

I use codeberg.org for my stuff.

[–] whelk@retrolemmy.com 7 points 1 day ago

I've wanted to for a while, but this post gave me the final nudge I needed to just buckle down and try selfhosting my own. Forgejo was incredibly easy to set up and my buddies and I are already successfully collaborating on a project that I've moved over from Github. So thanks for making your rant post, you made a difference

[–] Ghostie@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

*looks at the picture

Heh enshittification

[–] catbum@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Alternatively, a huge load of horseshit.

[–] Ghostie@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

A shitpost, if you will

[–] EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 89 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

If you want a cloud alternative to GitHub run by a non-profit and hosted outside of the U.S.

If you want to get your data out of the cloud entirely, or at least under a VPS you control, self host your own git repo (Using the same software as Codeberg)

[–] RustyShackleford@piefed.social 16 points 2 days ago

Done, thanks for the links. 👍

[–] gokayburucdev@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Noted. Thanks 👍

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] flandish@lemmy.world 108 points 2 days ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] PrinzKasper@feddit.org 46 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Playing devil's advocate, it's probably more about blocking bots from creating accounts than it is about blocking privacy minded users. You just end up being collateral damage.

Obviously that still sucks, I'm just saying it's not that simple

[–] ell1e@leminal.space 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Gitlab.com has similar problems, sadly. Meanwhile, I haven't ever heard of Codeberg doing somethign similar, but who knows I guess.

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I’m wondering if you could have any version of this—assuming best intentions and smartest people—which did not demand very similar countermeasures past a certain equivalent growth threshold.

I unfortunately have to imagine Codeberg is like Lemmy and flies under the radar from spammers.

…for now.

LLMs all but guarantee a future of oppressive noise to signal ratios. I imagine IRL connections, or at least numbers saved in your phone, will become pretty important there. So then I think up in-person local-community-vibe verification schemes but they all end with dirty marketers or operators inducing members of the public to astroturf or lease their accounts…

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] FG_3479@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Use Librewolf with a mobile data connection on a PAYG SIM, then go to Settings > Librewolf and turn off IPV6 to ensure you are behind CGNAT then turn off resistFingerprinting and enable WebGL.

Then install Jshelter and create a profile with the following settings:

Time precision: High

Locally rendered images: Little lies

Locally generated audio: Little lies

Graphic card information: Unprotected for highest chance of success or Little lies for best privacy

WebAssembley speed-up: enabled

Then make sure that all other options in Jshelter are turned off including Fingerprint Detector as Cloudflare Turnstile fails with it on.

[–] FE80@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

turn off IPV6

This is not a fix for anything.

[–] FG_3479@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Mobile data uses CGNAT for IPV4 which means that your activity is mixed with others. IPV6 is usually just static.

[–] Tiger_Man_@szmer.info 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Selfhosted git doesn't require anything

[–] witten@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sure it does. Like mitigating constant DDoS attacks / AI scrapers. (To be clear, I'm not advocating using GitHub instead. I'm just saying freedom ain't free.)

[–] utopiah@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 days ago
[–] davel@lemmy.ml 41 points 2 days ago (22 children)

Tell me how you really feel 😅

They also own Visual Studio Code, control VSCode, and effectively control the VSCodium soft fork.

[–] belated_frog_pants@beehaw.org 17 points 2 days ago

They decided they wanted to own software development and here we are ;/

Fuck ms

load more comments (21 replies)
[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 24 points 2 days ago

a coworker invited me to his company GitHub team or something recently, and I tried to join several times. each time, I got stuck with a 10 question test to "verify I was human". it was not quick. eventually, I had time to actually complete it without timing out.

after completing it correctly twice without success, I gave up

[–] JiveTurkey@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago

It's the same story for basically anything MS touches.

I'm still holding my breath waiting for IBM to do something atrocious to Fedora.

[–] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago

Bro literallly posted a photo of a pile of shit, lmaoo

[–] JTskulk@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I can't figure out if Free software projects don't know or don't care that GitHub is run by Microslop.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

It was bought by Microsoft after becoming established. Most free software projects don't care enough to move if they don't self host.

load more comments
view more: next ›