Dutch gov interest in Forgejo #412

oliverpool commented 2025年11月05日 15:00:28 +01:00

E-Mail sent from [redacted]@rijksoverheid.nl to contact@forgejo.org:

Hi all,

My name is [redacted], I’m with the Dutch government OSPO. Besides being big fans of Forgejo in general, we’re interested in using Forgejo for our national codeplatform. Our goal is to move our gov code away from GitHub.

I was wondering if I could have a digital meeting with you to see how we can and where the Dutch gov can help. We’re specifically looking to not just take, but to also bring resources 😊We’d love to know how to best collaborate.

Would it be possible to schedule a meeting at a time and date convenient to you? Thank you!

Kind regards,

[redacted]

E-Mail sent from [redacted]@rijksoverheid.nl to contact@forgejo.org: Hi all, My name is [redacted], I’m with the Dutch government OSPO. Besides being big fans of Forgejo in general, we’re interested in using Forgejo for our national codeplatform. Our goal is to move our gov code away from GitHub. I was wondering if I could have a digital meeting with you to see how we can and where the Dutch gov can help. We’re specifically looking to not just take, but to also bring resources 😊We’d love to know how to best collaborate. Would it be possible to schedule a meeting at a time and date convenient to you? Thank you! Kind regards, [redacted]

oliverpool commented 2025年11月05日 15:01:37 +01:00

Related: https://fosstodon.org/@Gina/115439627535962766

Related: https://fosstodon.org/@Gina/115439627535962766

Gusted commented 2025年11月05日 15:22:47 +01:00

For the record, I live in the Netherlands so I feel a sense of enthusiasm and some sense of responsibility to spearhead this.

@oliverpool wrote in #412 (comment):

I was wondering if I could have a digital meeting with you to see how we can and where the Dutch gov can help. We’re specifically looking to not just take, but to also bring resources 😊We’d love to know how to best collaborate.

This is quite interesting, it's not a "Hi how do we setup Forgejo up at scale and where are the management features?" (which I would've expected more from a government) but rather how can we invest in Forgejo, which is exciting. For that I have a feeling that the topics discussed in forgejo/discussions#144 provides a good overview of the areas that can be invested in to sustain the development of Forgejo.

Would it be possible to schedule a meeting at a time and date convenient to you? Thank you!

I will be available to take this meeting, but would like to know if anyone else is interested in this (otherwise I will mail them back at the end of this week to schedule for a date). In the spirit of transparency that relate to Forgejo's sustainability I will make notes during the meeting that I can publish afterwards.

For the record, I live in the Netherlands so I feel a sense of enthusiasm and some sense of responsibility to spearhead this. @oliverpool wrote in https://codeberg.org/forgejo/discussions/issues/412#issue-2635409: > I was wondering if I could have a digital meeting with you to see how we can and where the Dutch gov can help. We’re specifically looking to not just take, but to also bring resources 😊We’d love to know how to best collaborate. This is quite interesting, it's not a "Hi how do we setup Forgejo up at scale and where are the management features?" (which I would've expected more from a government) but rather how can we invest in Forgejo, which is exciting. For that I have a feeling that the topics discussed in forgejo/discussions#144 provides a good overview of the areas that can be invested in to sustain the development of Forgejo. > Would it be possible to schedule a meeting at a time and date convenient to you? Thank you! I will be available to take this meeting, but would like to know if anyone else is interested in this (otherwise I will mail them back at the end of this week to schedule for a date). In the spirit of transparency that relate to Forgejo's sustainability I will make notes during the meeting that I can publish afterwards.

MultisampledNight commented 2025年11月05日 16:49:19 +01:00

I'd love to passively help out with the notes so you can focus on the talking! Slight preference for Mondays and Tuesdays on my side; is there a channel where we could share more sensitive timing details?

I'd love to passively help out with the notes so you can focus on the talking! Slight preference for Mondays and Tuesdays on my side; is there a channel where we could share more sensitive timing details?

Gusted commented 2025年11月05日 16:55:50 +01:00

It likely can be discussed in https://matrix.to/#/#forgejo-sustainability:matrix.org (it's a public room).

It likely can be discussed in https://matrix.to/#/#forgejo-sustainability:matrix.org (it's a public room).

Gusted commented 2025年11月09日 15:52:32 +01:00

I've sent the following mail:

Hi [...],

Thank you for reaching out. I am Gusted, a long-time Forgejo contributor.

I am interested in having this meeting with you (as I'm Dutch myself) and having
the conversation on how to best collaborate. I would like to make clear that
there is no BDFL or appointed/elected owners in the Forgejo project, so it is
not possible for anyone to speak for the Forgejo project. I will however try to
represent the interest and values of the Forgejo project when having this
conversation with you. But so to say, this is on a personal capacity. Luckily
I do expect some people from the Forgejo project that want to attend the
meeting.

Regarding a time and date, would it be possible to schedule it for 2025年11月11日
15:30 (Aankomende dinsdag, Nederlandse tijd)?

Ahead of the meeting I have one question, within the Forgejo project we like to
have transparency when it comes to topics regarding sustainability as such I
would like to ask if it is allowed to make notes during the meeting and
publish them in #412 afterwards to
have a record of what was discussed.

Kind regards
Gusted

I've sent the following mail: > Hi [...], > > Thank you for reaching out. I am Gusted, a long-time Forgejo contributor. > > I am interested in having this meeting with you (as I'm Dutch myself) and having > the conversation on how to best collaborate. I would like to make clear that > there is no BDFL or appointed/elected owners in the Forgejo project, so it is > not possible for anyone to speak for the Forgejo project. I will however try to > represent the interest and values of the Forgejo project when having this > conversation with you. But so to say, this is on a personal capacity. Luckily > I do expect some people from the Forgejo project that want to attend the > meeting. > > Regarding a time and date, would it be possible to schedule it for 2025年11月11日 > 15:30 (Aankomende dinsdag, Nederlandse tijd)? > > Ahead of the meeting I have one question, within the Forgejo project we like to > have transparency when it comes to topics regarding sustainability as such I > would like to ask if it is allowed to make notes during the meeting and > publish them in https://codeberg.org/forgejo/discussions/issues/412 afterwards to > have a record of what was discussed. > > Kind regards > Gusted

Gusted commented 2025年11月10日 13:13:23 +01:00

I got a response today:

Hi Gusted,

Thank you for your reply, and that's great to hear 😊 Unfortunately I already have a meeting from 15:00 to 16:30. Would it be possible to have the call at 14:00? Otherwise, Wednesday afternoon works as well.

" as such I would like to ask if it is allowed to make notes during the meeting and publish them."

Of course that's no problem at all, we appreciate the transparency as well.

Kind regards,
[...]

Replied that 14:00 is fine as well.

Hi [...],

14:00 will be possible as well.

Kind regards
Gusted

I got a response today: > Hi Gusted, > > Thank you for your reply, and that's great to hear 😊 Unfortunately I already have a meeting from 15:00 to 16:30. Would it be possible to have the call at 14:00? Otherwise, Wednesday afternoon works as well. > > > " as such I would like to ask if it is allowed to make notes during the meeting and publish them." > > Of course that's no problem at all, we appreciate the transparency as well. > > Kind regards, > [...] > Replied that 14:00 is fine as well. > Hi [...], > > 14:00 will be possible as well. > > Kind regards > Gusted

Gina020 commented 2025年11月11日 15:04:32 +01:00

Hi guys, thanks again for today's meeting :) This was very useful for our national codeplatform project, which is looking at Forgejo as its solution. Also as discussed, at the OSPO we're looking at policy which can support the open source communities whose code the gov might rely on. We'll stay in touch, thanks again for your time!

Hi guys, thanks again for today's meeting :) This was very useful for our national codeplatform project, which is looking at Forgejo as its solution. Also as discussed, at the OSPO we're looking at policy which can support the open source communities whose code the gov might rely on. We'll stay in touch, thanks again for your time!

Gusted commented 2025年11月11日 17:26:54 +01:00

https://developer.overheid.nl/blog/2025/11/11/git-forge-overheid only available in Dutch it seems.

https://developer.overheid.nl/blog/2025/11/11/git-forge-overheid only available in Dutch it seems.

circlebuilder commented 2025年11月11日 20:58:58 +01:00

This blog post is written by @janvlug whom I personally know and whom I consulted on Forgejo vs Gitlab prior to this writing. Jan is on the fediverse at https://mastodon.social/@janvlug

I tooted about the article and @Gina020's efforts in order to give this hugely interesting subject matter more attention (boosts appreciated).

PS. I'm involved with forge federation, currently with ForgeFed, Anvil and ForgeFlux in the mix, and active as an advocate and steward of ActivityPub and the future of the social web, at https://coding.social (plus forum at https://discuss.coding.social).

This blog post is written by @janvlug whom I personally know and whom I consulted on Forgejo vs Gitlab prior to this writing. Jan is on the fediverse at https://mastodon.social/@janvlug I [tooted](https://social.coop/@smallcircles/115531897506413852) about the article and @Gina020's efforts in order to give this hugely interesting subject matter more attention (boosts appreciated). PS. I'm involved with forge federation, currently with ForgeFed, Anvil and ForgeFlux in the mix, and active as an advocate and steward of ActivityPub and the future of the social web, at https://coding.social (plus forum at https://discuss.coding.social).

rvba commented 2025年11月14日 17:37:16 +01:00

This is really good news! The French OSPO is also looking at Forgejo with real interest, but still considers it a challenger compared to GitLab. As I mentioned in previous posts, we have a dedicated (though informal) working group for public servants (BlueHats), and I’m sure this could be a real boost here in France if the Dutch government starts using and helping Forgejo grow.

This is really good news! The French [OSPO](https://code.gouv.fr) is also looking at Forgejo with real interest, but still considers it a challenger compared to GitLab. As I mentioned in [previous](https://codeberg.org/forgejo/discussions/issues/409) posts, we have a dedicated (though informal) [working group](https://forgeons.org) for public servants ([BlueHats](https://bluehats.world/)), and I’m sure this could be a real boost here in France if the Dutch government starts using and helping Forgejo grow.

RaymondKroon commented 2025年11月18日 08:53:32 +01:00

At Kadaster, which is also Dutch governement, we are running Gitea for some years now. We will switch to Forgejo today, after a failed attempt two weeks ago because of an oauth bug two weeks ago. So, we even have some contributing experience already 😄

If anyone is interested in our setup / experiences please contact me. Kadaster would very much like to help running public government Forgejo instance(s).

At Kadaster, which is also Dutch governement, we are running Gitea for some years now. We will switch to Forgejo today, after a failed attempt two weeks ago because of an oauth bug two weeks ago. So, we even have some contributing experience already 😄 If anyone is interested in our setup / experiences please contact me. Kadaster would very much like to help running public government Forgejo instance(s).

Gina020 commented 2025年11月18日 09:12:39 +01:00

Hi Raymond, that's great and very valuable! I'll contact you via email soon, thanks for the offer.

Hi Raymond, that's great and very valuable! I'll contact you via email soon, thanks for the offer.

Gina020 commented 2026年04月25日 09:41:52 +02:00

Hi all, yesterday we had the soft launch of the government wide codeplatform pilot. 🥳 We're live on code.overheid.nl (styling will be improved soon).

I'd just like to thank you all again for your hard work and support. We were honoured to have @Gusted at the launch as well.

We'll be trying out Forgejo with a small group of government organisations, incl Kadaster (who have an awesome setup we can learn from). We'll initially focus on publishing and archiving code, and open source collaboration, and possibly expand into offering advanced CI/CD tools as well.

If you'd like to know more, Tom Ootes from developer.overheid.nl wrote a good piece about it: https://developer.overheid.nl/blog/2026/04/24/we-gaan-samen-code-overheid-bouwen.

Hi all, yesterday we had the soft launch of the government wide codeplatform pilot. 🥳 We're live on code.overheid.nl (styling will be improved soon). I'd just like to thank you all again for your hard work and support. We were honoured to have @Gusted at the launch as well. We'll be trying out Forgejo with a small group of government organisations, incl Kadaster (who have an awesome setup we can learn from). We'll initially focus on publishing and archiving code, and open source collaboration, and possibly expand into offering advanced CI/CD tools as well. If you'd like to know more, Tom Ootes from developer.overheid.nl wrote a good piece about it: https://developer.overheid.nl/blog/2026/04/24/we-gaan-samen-code-overheid-bouwen.

circlebuilder commented 2026年04月29日 18:11:31 +02:00

Fabulous, really loving this 😍

Here another announcement and HN discussion..
https://www.nldigitalgovernment.nl/news/soft-launch-for-government-open-source-code-platform/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945918

Fabulous, really loving this 😍 Here another announcement and HN discussion.. https://www.nldigitalgovernment.nl/news/soft-launch-for-government-open-source-code-platform/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47945918

circlebuilder commented 2026年05月06日 09:17:44 +02:00

FYI a publication by It's FOSS by Sourav Rudra.. https://itsfoss.com/news/netherlands-forgejo-migration/

FYI a publication by It's FOSS by [Sourav Rudra](https://mastodon.social/@sourav666).. https://itsfoss.com/news/netherlands-forgejo-migration/