Gentoo Linux Migrates to Codeberg in Protest Against GitHub's Copilot Data Practices

The Gentoo Linux project has commenced its planned migration from GitHub to Codeberg, marking a significant shift in open-source infrastructure strategy. This transition, officially detailed on Gentoo.org, directly responds to ethical concerns surrounding Microsoft's Copilot AI training practices that utilize public repositories without developer consent.

At the core of Gentoo's migration is objection to GitHub Copilot's training methodology. The AI tool scrapes publicly available code from repositories like Gentoo's without compensating contributors or offering opt-out mechanisms. As articulated in Gentoo's announcement: "The training of Copilot on GitHub repositories without explicit consent from the developers raises significant ethical and licensing concerns."

The migration follows a phased technical approach:

1. Ebuild Repository First: Initial migration focuses on Gentoo's core package repository containing over 25,000 build scripts
2. Parallel Operations: GitHub will temporarily remain operational as a mirror during transition
3. Pull Request Compatibility: Codeberg already accepts pull requests through its Forgejo-based infrastructure
4. Full Deprecation Timeline: Complete GitHub sunsetting expected within 12 months

Codeberg offers distinct technical advantages aligning with Gentoo's philosophy:

Feature	GitHub	Codeberg
Hosting Location	Global Microsoft servers	Germany (GDPR compliant)
Ownership	Microsoft Corporation	Non-profit association
Infrastructure	Proprietary systems	Open-source Forgejo platform
Data Policy	Allows Copilot scraping	Explicit opt-in for AI training

Technical migration challenges include CI/CD pipeline adaptation and contributor retraining. Gentoo developers are creating detailed migration guides addressing:

• SSH key migration procedures
• Repository mirror synchronization techniques
• Gitolite to Forgejo permission mapping
• Historical issue/PR archival methods

The project selected Codeberg after evaluating multiple platforms, prioritizing its non-profit status, European data residency, and community governance model. Codeberg runs on Forgejo – an open-source Git hosting solution actively maintained as a Gitea fork with enhanced privacy features.

This migration establishes a precedent for open-source projects concerned about AI training practices. Gentoo's infrastructure contains specialized build scripts and configuration knowledge accumulated over decades – valuable training data now protected from uncompensated AI ingestion. The project maintains its entire documentation portal and developer resources independently outside GitHub's ecosystem.

Community impact assessments show initial contributor friction but long-term philosophical alignment. Gentoo developers emphasize this transition reinforces their commitment to software freedom principles while adapting infrastructure to modern ethical challenges. The project continues accepting contributions through both platforms during the migration period, with detailed technical FAQs available in their developer forums.