Episode 189: Otto Richter on Codeberg

Guest Otto Richter Panelists Richard Littauer | Abby Cabunoc Mayes
Show Notes Welcome back to another episode of Sustain! The podcast
where we talk about sustaining open source for the long haul. In
this episode, Richard and Abby are joined by guest Otto Richter.
Otto is the executive director of Codeberg, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to providing a free and open space for
developers to host their software projects. It’s like GitHub or
GitLab but powered by free software as an alternative to
proprietary software platforms. Today, we learn about the financial
model and the inner workings of Codeberg, its commitment to user
sovereignty, and its unique approach to open source hosting. Also,
we discuss the challenges and triumphs of running a nonprofit in
the tech space, the importance of community involvement, and the
future of Codeberg. As always, it’s a fascinating discussion, so go
hit the download button and hear it for yourself! [00:01:49] Otto
explains what Codeberg is - a nonprofit hosting software
projectories, created as an alternative to proprietary software
platforms and he explains the difference between Codeberg and
GitLab. [00:03:37] Otto explains the structure of Codeberg as a
registered nonprofit association in Germany. [00:04:52] Discussion
about the financial structure of Codeberg, including donations and
membership fees. [00:05:41] Abby asks Otto about the membership
structure and fees of Codeberg, and he explains that it is an
opportunity for larger companies, but it is currently more around
individuals. [00:07:02] The discussion turns to how the voting
process is within the association, what they are voting on, and how
things get implemented. Otto explains the role of the executive
board in relation to the membership as well. [00:09:39] Richard is
curious about international membership of Codeberg, and Otto
explains the challenges, even though 50% of the members are from
outside of Germany. [00:11:19] Richard and Otto discuss how about
the value of sovereignty in Codeberg's platform and in Germany in
general. [00:13:29] Otto talks to us about the about the design
process of Codeberg and how it currently works. [00:14:43] Otto
shares the current number of users and projects on Codeberg as well
as user protections on the platform and managing user expectations
around platform availability. [00:19:39] Abby asks Otto about the
audience of Codeberg and how they manage reliability. He cites an
example for us and explains how they communicate downtime to users.
[00:23:41] Otto tells us how Codeberg’s contributors is really a
mixed bag. [00:24:50] Richard wants to know why they don’t have a
federated system or a decentralized system. [00:30:10] Otto goes
into the importance of building up “human infrastructure,” projects
coordination, and why they need to spread awareness. [00:32:38]
Abby really wants to know about ways of paying contributors for
their work, and Otto discusses why it’s so simple in Germany to do
so. [00:34:25] Find out where you can follow Codeberg on the web.
Quotes [00:30:10] “I think one important part is that you need to
pay humans for their awesome work.” [00:30:24] “You need to decide
whom to pay. What is the most important thing?” Spotlight
[00:35:25] Abby’s spotlight is the Godot Gaming Engine. [00:35:42]
Richard’s spotlight is a book of poems by Martín Espada called,
“Floaters.” [00:35:58] Otto’s spotlight is the Linux Show Player.
Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Twitter
(https://twitter.com/SustainOSS?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/)
podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) SustainOSS
Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/tags/sustainoss) Open
Collective-SustainOSS (Contribute)
(https://opencollective.com/sustainoss) Richard Littauer Twitter
(https://twitter.com/richlitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor)
Richard Littauer Mastodon (https://mastodon.social/@richlitt) Abby
Cabunoc Mayes Twitter (https://twitter.com/abbycabs?lang=en)
Codeberg Website (https://codeberg.org/) Codeberg Mastodon
(https://social.anoxinon.de/@Codeberg) Codeberg Twitter
(https://twitter.com/codeberg_org) Codeberg Matrix
(https://matrix.to/#/) Codeberg Blog (https://blog.codeberg.org/)
Codeberg Blog – The Hardest Scaling Issue
(https://blog.codeberg.org/the-hardest-scaling-issue.html) ceph
(https://ceph.com/en/) Duane O’Brien – Critical Human
Infrastructure
(https://www.duaneobrien.com/critical-human-infrastructure/) UC
Santa Cruz - CROSS (https://cross.ucsc.edu/) GODOT
(https://godotengine.org/) “Floaters” by Martín Espada
(https://www.nationalbook.org/books/floaters/) Linux Show Player
(https://www.linux-show-player.org/) Credits Produced by Richard
Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at
Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by
DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/)
Special Guest: Otto Richter.