{"slug": "fossil", "name": "Fossil", "category": "git", "category_name": "Git and code hosting", "description": "A distributed version control system with built-in wiki, tickets, forum and web interface.", "recommenders": 22, "commenters": 26, "warners": 1, "score": 19.0, "rising": 11.38, "first": "2025-12-17", "latest": "2026-10-04", "why": "HN commenters like Fossil as an all-in-one version control system that keeps code, wiki, tickets and forum together in a single file, and for how easy it is to self-host and use, especially on solo or small-team projects.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 24, "neutral": 2, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 1, 2, 1, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 10, 4, 2], "listed": true, "loved": ["All-in-one", "Easy self-hosting"], "caveat": "Small ecosystem", "short_quote": "I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it so easily allows me to get right back into the context of a project", "icon": true, "domain": "fossil-scm.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://fossil-scm.org/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Fossil"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like Fossil as an all-in-one version control system that keeps code, wiki, tickets and forum together in a single file", "cites": [{"id": 797129168, "item_id": 49820573, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49820573", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Super easy to host, tiny, includes everything I need for a project, all in one file.", "excerpt": "Yep, I use Fossil for all my side projects. Super easy to host, tiny, includes everything I need for a project, all in one file. Great piece of software.", "context": "", "use_case": "side project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "The GitHub wiki is an anti-pattern (2022)"}, {"id": 789337792, "item_id": 49333612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333612", "by": "zhynn", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years. Things that I love include: 1. batteries included single-file functionality (fossil binary + sqlite file and I have everything!) 2. Hosting them is super easy, I have a lighttpd server configured to do cgi-bin, and i just pop the project.fossil file onto the server and I have a project. The biggest friction is managing users across ", "context": "", "use_case": "personal project repositories", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 767067952, "item_id": 47941747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47941747", "by": "wps", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it so easily allows me to get right back into the context of a project", "excerpt": "I am still so salty that Git won out for the average project over Fossil. Sure Git has some performance advantages for massive codebases like the Linux Kernel, but the vast majority of projects will never run into performance limits from their VCS. Fossil\u2019s internal tools (wiki, forum, tickets<issues>, etc) are just so useful to have versioned with your code in one file. I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it ", "context": "freelancer", "use_case": "version control for freelance work", "switched_from": "Git", "story": "Before GitHub"}, {"id": 748544672, "item_id": 46784042, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46784042", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Email isn't a wiki, bug tracking, documentation and all the other stuff Fossil offers as part of their core design.", "excerpt": "Email isn't a wiki, bug tracking, documentation and all the other stuff Fossil offers as part of their core design. The point is for it to be in one place, and local-first. If you don't trust me, read the list of features and give it a try yourself: https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with wiki and bug tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}, {"id": 767042560, "item_id": 47940160, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47940160", "by": "velcrovan", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I wish the prevailing SCMS were more like Fossil, where issues and forum posts, at least, are part of the repository", "excerpt": "> To the \"Git is distributed!\" crowd: the issue isn't Git, it's the infrastructure we rely on around it: issues, PRs, Actions, etc. Yet again, I wish the prevailing SCMS were more like Fossil, where issues and forum posts, at least, are part of the repository (and everything lives in a single sqlite file). (Of course Fossil actively opposes \"pull requests\", separate issue)", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty is leaving GitHub"}]}, {"text": ", and for how easy it is to self-host and use, especially on solo or small-team projects.", "cites": [{"id": 789327585, "item_id": 49332974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332974", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm personally very partial to Fossil, it works well and is dead easy to set up.", "excerpt": "Whatever you do, you should self-host it. Then you aren't going to be at the mercy of some third party when they start to get hammered by vibe coders doing an insane amount of traffic. Forgejo is a great option if you want something git-based. I'm personally very partial to Fossil, it works well and is dead easy to set up.", "context": "", "use_case": "self-hosted version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789386976, "item_id": 49336686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336686", "by": "shofetim", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is revision control, it is as good as git (maybe better), but it is different.", "excerpt": "If you are frustrated with Github being down again, and just want an alternative, the other options listed are better fits. If you have the time to look at doing more than that, then check out fossil https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki - It isn't git - Works best with smaller teams - You need to be ok self hosting (single binary, easy to do) The first point is really the killer. It is revision contro", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for small teams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 794883232, "item_id": 49680202, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49680202", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects. I understand why it isn't for everyone, but considering I am the sole developer on the stuff I make (and I agree with Dr. Hipp about the drawbacks of rebase), it's perfect for my needs. Lightweight, has its own integrated web server and forge features should I need them, and it's dead easy to use. It isn't the one VCS to rule them all (no such thing exists, really), but I d", "context": "sole developer", "use_case": "version control for solo projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}, {"id": 749982032, "item_id": 46873877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873877", "by": "its_magic", "date": "2026-02-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil is my favorite as it's easier to use than git", "excerpt": "Good man. Like I said, it's obvious you're going places. D is a good language. You chose well. Walter Bright would be happy to see what you're doing here. If you're not using version control yet, now's a good time to start, as it will help with the cleanup work. Fossil is my favorite as it's easier to use than git, but whatever you like is fine. More people use git than fossil so it's good to learn it and master it. ", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "G Lang \u2013 A lightweight interpreter written in D (2.4MB)"}, {"id": 748466000, "item_id": 46779125, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46779125", "by": "smartmic", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects.", "excerpt": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects. There are specific design conditions, such as no rebasing [0], and overall, it is simpler yet more useful to me. However, I think Fossil is better suited for projects governed under the cathedral model than the bazaar model. It's great for self-hosting, and the web UI is excellent not only for version control, but also for managing a software development proje", "context": "uses it for personal projects", "use_case": "personal project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is its small user base and missing ecosystem compared to Git", "cites": [{"id": 745402448, "item_id": 46587653, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46587653", "by": "shane_kerns", "date": "2026-01-12", "stance": "compare", "quote": "The infrastructure around fossil and jujitsu are missing. Git isn't the best but network effects matter.", "excerpt": "The infrastructure around fossil and jujitsu are missing. Git isn't the best but network effects matter. For example, we use jenkins at work and there is no plugin for fossil or jujitsu. Every customer we have uses git so we can't even propose fossil. Even though we might use only 10 git commands, those commands are universally known by all to work if something goes wrong. It isn't sufficient to say that fossil or ju", "context": "uses Jenkins at work; all customers use git", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fossil versus Git"}, {"id": 789395776, "item_id": 49337236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337236", "by": "jm4", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil looks really cool. I like how it's all in one and includes the web interface.", "excerpt": "Fossil looks really cool. I like how it's all in one and includes the web interface. The only thing is it doesn't seem like anyone actually uses it outside of sqlite. I don't necessarily need to use the most popular thing out there, but some social proof is nice.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in web UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789396832, "item_id": 49337302, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337302", "by": "shofetim", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It is a small community. The forums are moderately active though", "excerpt": "It is a small community. The forums are moderately active though: https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forum", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 794911840, "item_id": 49681990, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681990", "by": "sugarkjube", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I looked at fossil a long time ago and liked it a lot", "excerpt": "I looked at fossil a long time ago and liked it a lot, but settled on git as it's more \"standard\". I guess I will have to take a look at fossil again. Off-topic, but I kinda like the style sheet of this article.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}]}, {"text": ", plus a no-rebase workflow that Git users may find alienating.", "cites": [{"id": 789326480, "item_id": 49332905, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332905", "by": "sssilver", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "There's no rebase, on principle. Branch names are permanent attributes of commits.", "excerpt": "The workflow is paradigmically different, and that may throw many people off. There's no rebase, on principle. Branch names are permanent attributes of commits. Even abandoned branches remain visible forever. Code review is post-hoc. People who are extremely accustomed to Git workflows may find the paradigm alienating.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 794896928, "item_id": 49681058, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681058", "by": "otherme123", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both, and I prefer fossil.", "excerpt": "I use both, and I prefer fossil. But my coworkers hate fossil because they can't fake their commits to make them look good. This is something I actually like about fossil: git has tools just to make things look pretty even if they can cause serious headaches (rebase), so users are skewed towards good looking timelines made with dirty commits then rearranged and squashed. OTOH fossil forces you to do your best but acc", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "All-in-one", "summary": "Wiki, tickets, forum and web UI are versioned alongside the code in one file.", "quotes": [{"id": 767067952, "item_id": 47941747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47941747", "by": "wps", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it so easily allows me to get right back into the context of a project", "excerpt": "I am still so salty that Git won out for the average project over Fossil. Sure Git has some performance advantages for massive codebases like the Linux Kernel, but the vast majority of projects will never run into performance limits from their VCS. Fossil\u2019s internal tools (wiki, forum, tickets<issues>, etc) are just so useful to have versioned with your code in one file. I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it ", "context": "freelancer", "use_case": "version control for freelance work", "switched_from": "Git", "story": "Before GitHub"}, {"id": 789324576, "item_id": 49332786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332786", "by": "rwl", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fossil\u2018s simplicity is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has to use git from a CLI. Well worth a try", "excerpt": "I started using fossil recently and have been quite pleased with this aspect of it. I miss a few things from the git world (mostly magit and its magical ability to stage individual hunks of a diff) and there are a few rough edges, but I totally agree that having a wiki and issue tracking inside the repository makes so much sense. fossil\u2018s simplicity is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has to use git from a CLI. W", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in wiki and issues", "switched_from": "Git", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 748544672, "item_id": 46784042, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46784042", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Email isn't a wiki, bug tracking, documentation and all the other stuff Fossil offers as part of their core design.", "excerpt": "Email isn't a wiki, bug tracking, documentation and all the other stuff Fossil offers as part of their core design. The point is for it to be in one place, and local-first. If you don't trust me, read the list of features and give it a try yourself: https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with wiki and bug tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}]}, {"label": "Easy self-hosting", "summary": "A single binary and SQLite file make it simple to set up and host.", "quotes": [{"id": 789337792, "item_id": 49333612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333612", "by": "zhynn", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years. Things that I love include: 1. batteries included single-file functionality (fossil binary + sqlite file and I have everything!) 2. Hosting them is super easy, I have a lighttpd server configured to do cgi-bin, and i just pop the project.fossil file onto the server and I have a project. The biggest friction is managing users across ", "context": "", "use_case": "personal project repositories", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 797129168, "item_id": 49820573, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49820573", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Super easy to host, tiny, includes everything I need for a project, all in one file.", "excerpt": "Yep, I use Fossil for all my side projects. Super easy to host, tiny, includes everything I need for a project, all in one file. Great piece of software.", "context": "", "use_case": "side project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "The GitHub wiki is an anti-pattern (2022)"}, {"id": 789327585, "item_id": 49332974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332974", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm personally very partial to Fossil, it works well and is dead easy to set up.", "excerpt": "Whatever you do, you should self-host it. Then you aren't going to be at the mercy of some third party when they start to get hammered by vibe coders doing an insane amount of traffic. Forgejo is a great option if you want something git-based. I'm personally very partial to Fossil, it works well and is dead easy to set up.", "context": "", "use_case": "self-hosted version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}]}, {"label": "Simplicity", "summary": "Users find it lightweight and easier to use than Git.", "quotes": [{"id": 749982032, "item_id": 46873877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873877", "by": "its_magic", "date": "2026-02-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil is my favorite as it's easier to use than git", "excerpt": "Good man. Like I said, it's obvious you're going places. D is a good language. You chose well. Walter Bright would be happy to see what you're doing here. If you're not using version control yet, now's a good time to start, as it will help with the cleanup work. Fossil is my favorite as it's easier to use than git, but whatever you like is fine. More people use git than fossil so it's good to learn it and master it. ", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "G Lang \u2013 A lightweight interpreter written in D (2.4MB)"}, {"id": 789324576, "item_id": 49332786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332786", "by": "rwl", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fossil\u2018s simplicity is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has to use git from a CLI. Well worth a try", "excerpt": "I started using fossil recently and have been quite pleased with this aspect of it. I miss a few things from the git world (mostly magit and its magical ability to stage individual hunks of a diff) and there are a few rough edges, but I totally agree that having a wiki and issue tracking inside the repository makes so much sense. fossil\u2018s simplicity is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has to use git from a CLI. W", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in wiki and issues", "switched_from": "Git", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 794883232, "item_id": 49680202, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49680202", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects. I understand why it isn't for everyone, but considering I am the sole developer on the stuff I make (and I agree with Dr. Hipp about the drawbacks of rebase), it's perfect for my needs. Lightweight, has its own integrated web server and forge features should I need them, and it's dead easy to use. It isn't the one VCS to rule them all (no such thing exists, really), but I d", "context": "sole developer", "use_case": "version control for solo projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}]}, {"label": "No-rebase history", "summary": "Some prefer its honest history and Dr. Hipp's stance against rebase.", "quotes": [{"id": 794896928, "item_id": 49681058, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681058", "by": "otherme123", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both, and I prefer fossil.", "excerpt": "I use both, and I prefer fossil. But my coworkers hate fossil because they can't fake their commits to make them look good. This is something I actually like about fossil: git has tools just to make things look pretty even if they can cause serious headaches (rebase), so users are skewed towards good looking timelines made with dirty commits then rearranged and squashed. OTOH fossil forces you to do your best but acc", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}, {"id": 794883232, "item_id": 49680202, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49680202", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects. I understand why it isn't for everyone, but considering I am the sole developer on the stuff I make (and I agree with Dr. Hipp about the drawbacks of rebase), it's perfect for my needs. Lightweight, has its own integrated web server and forge features should I need them, and it's dead easy to use. It isn't the one VCS to rule them all (no such thing exists, really), but I d", "context": "sole developer", "use_case": "version control for solo projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}, {"id": 748466000, "item_id": 46779125, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46779125", "by": "smartmic", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects.", "excerpt": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects. There are specific design conditions, such as no rebasing [0], and overall, it is simpler yet more useful to me. However, I think Fossil is better suited for projects governed under the cathedral model than the bazaar model. It's great for self-hosting, and the web UI is excellent not only for version control, but also for managing a software development proje", "context": "uses it for personal projects", "use_case": "personal project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}]}, {"label": "Clear docs", "summary": "The documentation explains and justifies how it differs from Git.", "quotes": [{"id": 789338320, "item_id": 49333645, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333645", "by": "rwl", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the docs are good at explaining (and justifying) the differences, and the built-in features are very useful", "excerpt": "Yep, it\u2019s not for everyone, and their docs are pretty clear about that. OTOH those same docs contain a variety of arguments that git isn\u2019t really designed for everyone either and that fossil might be a better fit for projects that have just one or a handful of developers, which AFAIK is the vast majority of projects on Github. My experience is that it is certainly an adjustment but the docs are good at explaining (an", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for small projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Small ecosystem", "summary": "Few users, a small community and missing integrations such as Jenkins plugins.", "quotes": [{"id": 745402448, "item_id": 46587653, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46587653", "by": "shane_kerns", "date": "2026-01-12", "stance": "compare", "quote": "The infrastructure around fossil and jujitsu are missing. Git isn't the best but network effects matter.", "excerpt": "The infrastructure around fossil and jujitsu are missing. Git isn't the best but network effects matter. For example, we use jenkins at work and there is no plugin for fossil or jujitsu. Every customer we have uses git so we can't even propose fossil. Even though we might use only 10 git commands, those commands are universally known by all to work if something goes wrong. It isn't sufficient to say that fossil or ju", "context": "uses Jenkins at work; all customers use git", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fossil versus Git"}, {"id": 789395776, "item_id": 49337236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337236", "by": "jm4", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil looks really cool. I like how it's all in one and includes the web interface.", "excerpt": "Fossil looks really cool. I like how it's all in one and includes the web interface. The only thing is it doesn't seem like anyone actually uses it outside of sqlite. I don't necessarily need to use the most popular thing out there, but some social proof is nice.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in web UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789396832, "item_id": 49337302, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337302", "by": "shofetim", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It is a small community. The forums are moderately active though", "excerpt": "It is a small community. The forums are moderately active though: https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forum", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}]}, {"label": "Unfamiliar workflow", "summary": "No rebase and permanent branches can throw off people used to Git.", "quotes": [{"id": 789326480, "item_id": 49332905, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332905", "by": "sssilver", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "There's no rebase, on principle. Branch names are permanent attributes of commits.", "excerpt": "The workflow is paradigmically different, and that may throw many people off. There's no rebase, on principle. Branch names are permanent attributes of commits. Even abandoned branches remain visible forever. Code review is post-hoc. People who are extremely accustomed to Git workflows may find the paradigm alienating.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789386976, "item_id": 49336686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336686", "by": "shofetim", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is revision control, it is as good as git (maybe better), but it is different.", "excerpt": "If you are frustrated with Github being down again, and just want an alternative, the other options listed are better fits. If you have the time to look at doing more than that, then check out fossil https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki - It isn't git - Works best with smaller teams - You need to be ok self hosting (single binary, easy to do) The first point is really the killer. It is revision contro", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for small teams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 794896928, "item_id": 49681058, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681058", "by": "otherme123", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both, and I prefer fossil.", "excerpt": "I use both, and I prefer fossil. But my coworkers hate fossil because they can't fake their commits to make them look good. This is something I actually like about fossil: git has tools just to make things look pretty even if they can cause serious headaches (rebase), so users are skewed towards good looking timelines made with dirty commits then rearranged and squashed. OTOH fossil forces you to do your best but acc", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}]}, {"label": "Outside contributions", "summary": "Accepting contributions means receiving patches or bundles, unlike Git forges.", "quotes": [{"id": 748466000, "item_id": 46779125, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46779125", "by": "smartmic", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects.", "excerpt": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects. There are specific design conditions, such as no rebasing [0], and overall, it is simpler yet more useful to me. However, I think Fossil is better suited for projects governed under the cathedral model than the bazaar model. It's great for self-hosting, and the web UI is excellent not only for version control, but also for managing a software development proje", "context": "uses it for personal projects", "use_case": "personal project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}]}, {"label": "Dated web UI", "summary": "Some find the web interface old-fashioned.", "quotes": [{"id": 745411505, "item_id": 46588219, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46588219", "by": "rcarmo", "date": "2026-01-12", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the web interface was _so_ dated", "excerpt": "It still looks _exactly_ the same way as a decade ago (well, there were some CSS tweaks). I used to use it for my own projects until friction overcame my tastes, but I remember one of the things I really didn't like about it was that the web interface was _so_ dated. I love Gitea because it feels a lot like GitHub (and hence I don't have to remember where things are). Edit: Wow, it supports markdown now? and a forum?", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for own projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fossil versus Git"}, {"id": 789668384, "item_id": 49354274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49354274", "by": "nrr", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Fossil since 2009.", "excerpt": "I can entertain you since no one else has so far. I've been using Fossil since 2009. > My dream \"forge\" would just be nice-looking frontend for displaying repos on the web, a public issue tracker (with per-issue permissions), a public way to submit issues, and essentially a single canonical root for repositories that users on the team work on. Fossil will get you the frontend (for some value of nice-looking) for disp", "context": "long-time Fossil user", "use_case": "version control and forge", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}]}, {"label": "Per-repo users", "summary": "Users must be managed separately in each repository.", "quotes": [{"id": 789337792, "item_id": 49333612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333612", "by": "zhynn", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years. Things that I love include: 1. batteries included single-file functionality (fossil binary + sqlite file and I have everything!) 2. Hosting them is super easy, I have a lighttpd server configured to do cgi-bin, and i just pop the project.fossil file onto the server and I have a project. The biggest friction is managing users across ", "context": "", "use_case": "personal project repositories", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}]}, {"label": "Binary files", "summary": "Not a compelling choice for projects with lots of binary assets.", "quotes": [{"id": 777324608, "item_id": 48582788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48582788", "by": "59nadir", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Currently I use Fossil for most projects, but it's not a compelling choice (just like git) for when you have binary stuff.", "excerpt": "Honestly, when our backend team merged into one that was using Perforce for the backend learning how to use Perforce wasn't realistically even a blip on the radar of what to get used to. I was against it at the time for what we were doing but with the benefit of hindsight I can say that I prefer something like Perforce if someone can manage it for me, or it's a set-and-forget type situation; I don't personally have a", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Epic Games announces Lore version control system"}]}], "who": [{"by": "bigstrat2003", "context": "sole developer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49680202", "date": "2026-09-13"}, {"by": "robwayne", "context": "runs a Forgejo instance for a small team", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49383993", "date": "2026-08-20"}, {"by": "nrr", "context": "long-time Fossil user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49354274", "date": "2026-08-18"}, {"by": "wps", "context": "freelancer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47941747", "date": "2026-04-28"}, {"by": "smartmic", "context": "uses it for personal projects", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46779125", "date": "2026-01-27"}], "tags": ["for solo devs", "for small teams", "self-hostable", "for freelancers", "for AI agent workflows"], "use_cases": ["version control", "scm for ai agents", "side project version control", "version control for solo projects", "project repository management", "version control with built-in hosting"], "compared": [{"slug": "git", "name": "Git", "co": 24, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "forgejo", "name": "Forgejo", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "gitea", "name": "Gitea", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "github", "name": "GitHub", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "jujutsu", "name": "Jujutsu", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "radicle", "name": "Radicle", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "sqlite", "name": "SQLite", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "mercurial", "name": "Mercurial", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 794896736, "item_id": 49681046, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681046", "by": "sgbeal", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "We make no secret about not liking the ticket system", "excerpt": "> IMHO the best and most relevant part of fossil these days is the ticket system, which is in every single way almost completely ideal for coding agents. Funnily enough, that's collectively fossil's developers' least-favorite part. We make no secret about not liking the ticket system, and we only use it when we need to record a certain ticket for posterity's sake. Aside from that, we use the forum for all ticket-like", "context": "Fossil developer", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49331033", "title": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub", "mentions": 13}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49649864", "title": "From Git to Fossil (2025)", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46778341", "title": "I made my own Git", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46586385", "title": "Fossil versus Git", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49947051", "title": "We want you to build the next Git platform on Cloudflare", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49924179", "title": "Git 3.0's upcoming SHA-256 default will be a costly mistake", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {"compare": 1, "warn": 1, "recommend": 2}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 10}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 4}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799198464, "item_id": 49949904, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49949904", "by": "zhynn", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "But I love fossil for this. You can create users for all of the agents (or agent roles).", "excerpt": "I looked into beads but I didn't see a way to make it work any better than fossil, and fossil does more stuff. My typical setup is to use the repo as a working directory, the tickets for todo, wiki/forum for conversation. There is also a chat interface, but I haven't tried that with agents yet. But I love fossil for this. You can create users for all of the agents (or agent roles). The CLI for fossil is just a binary", "context": "", "use_case": "SCM for AI agents", "switched_from": "", "story": "We want you to build the next Git platform on Cloudflare"}, {"id": 798912720, "item_id": 49932045, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49932045", "by": "petre", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil has already moved from SHA1 to SHA3-256 and I haven't encountered any issues.", "excerpt": "Well, Fossil has already moved from SHA1 to SHA3-256 and I haven't encountered any issues. https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/tip/www/hashpolicy.wiki", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Git 3.0's upcoming SHA-256 default will be a costly mistake"}, {"id": 797129168, "item_id": 49820573, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49820573", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Super easy to host, tiny, includes everything I need for a project, all in one file.", "excerpt": "Yep, I use Fossil for all my side projects. Super easy to host, tiny, includes everything I need for a project, all in one file. Great piece of software.", "context": "", "use_case": "side project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "The GitHub wiki is an anti-pattern (2022)"}, {"id": 794911840, "item_id": 49681990, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681990", "by": "sugarkjube", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I looked at fossil a long time ago and liked it a lot", "excerpt": "I looked at fossil a long time ago and liked it a lot, but settled on git as it's more \"standard\". I guess I will have to take a look at fossil again. Off-topic, but I kinda like the style sheet of this article.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}, {"id": 794896928, "item_id": 49681058, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49681058", "by": "otherme123", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both, and I prefer fossil.", "excerpt": "I use both, and I prefer fossil. But my coworkers hate fossil because they can't fake their commits to make them look good. This is something I actually like about fossil: git has tools just to make things look pretty even if they can cause serious headaches (rebase), so users are skewed towards good looking timelines made with dirty commits then rearranged and squashed. OTOH fossil forces you to do your best but acc", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}, {"id": 794883232, "item_id": 49680202, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49680202", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-09-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil and I use it for my projects. I understand why it isn't for everyone, but considering I am the sole developer on the stuff I make (and I agree with Dr. Hipp about the drawbacks of rebase), it's perfect for my needs. Lightweight, has its own integrated web server and forge features should I need them, and it's dead easy to use. It isn't the one VCS to rule them all (no such thing exists, really), but I d", "context": "sole developer", "use_case": "version control for solo projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "From Git to Fossil (2025)"}, {"id": 792052833, "item_id": 49503302, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49503302", "by": "spiderxxxx", "date": "2026-08-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I prefer fossil so never bothered to learn git command line", "excerpt": "I used claude to handle a git commit for me (I wrote the code myself, but used Claude just for git -- I prefer fossil so never bothered to learn git command line) and it took credit for doing nothing but the commit.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I am no longer letting Claude Code add itself as Co-author in my commits"}, {"id": 790143888, "item_id": 49383993, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49383993", "by": "robwayne", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really dig everything being so tightly coupled to a given project", "excerpt": "Thanks for the insights! > For products you're developing that involve multiple repositories, it's possible to use a \"meta repository\"[1] to establish what's called a login group Gotcha; that makes sense considering how users are handled. > There's some social stuff if you find later that you want it. Fossil development moved from a more traditional mailing list to a self-hosted forum a while ago, but it isn't enable", "context": "runs a Forgejo instance for a small team", "use_case": "project repository management", "switched_from": "Forgejo", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789677520, "item_id": 49354845, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49354845", "by": "jm4", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'd probably take a look at fossil. That thing is so damn cool.", "excerpt": "There's other stuff out there. You don't have to use it except when you're working with someone who does and there are other systems with some compatibility for that exact scenario. Git became popular because Linus Torvalds created it and it's used for the Linux kernel. If it can succeed there then it's battle proven for sure and that's why people pick it. Almost no one is working at that scale though so don't sweat ", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in hosting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cursor launches Origin, GitHub alternative"}, {"id": 789668384, "item_id": 49354274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49354274", "by": "nrr", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Fossil since 2009.", "excerpt": "I can entertain you since no one else has so far. I've been using Fossil since 2009. > My dream \"forge\" would just be nice-looking frontend for displaying repos on the web, a public issue tracker (with per-issue permissions), a public way to submit issues, and essentially a single canonical root for repositories that users on the team work on. Fossil will get you the frontend (for some value of nice-looking) for disp", "context": "long-time Fossil user", "use_case": "version control and forge", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789453568, "item_id": 49340848, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49340848", "by": "robwayne", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really looks like fossil is actually what I've always wanted.", "excerpt": "I've sorta overlooked Fossil a lot (mostly because it's not git...), but just browsing some instances on chisel and the fossil homepage has me intrigued. If you'll entertain me for a moment... My dream \"forge\" would just be nice-looking frontend for displaying repos on the web, a public issue tracker (with per-issue permissions), a public way to submit issues, and essentially a single canonical root for repositories ", "context": "", "use_case": "small-team forge with issue tracker", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789396832, "item_id": 49337302, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337302", "by": "shofetim", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It is a small community. The forums are moderately active though", "excerpt": "It is a small community. The forums are moderately active though: https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forum", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789395776, "item_id": 49337236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49337236", "by": "jm4", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil looks really cool. I like how it's all in one and includes the web interface.", "excerpt": "Fossil looks really cool. I like how it's all in one and includes the web interface. The only thing is it doesn't seem like anyone actually uses it outside of sqlite. I don't necessarily need to use the most popular thing out there, but some social proof is nice.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in web UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789386976, "item_id": 49336686, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336686", "by": "shofetim", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is revision control, it is as good as git (maybe better), but it is different.", "excerpt": "If you are frustrated with Github being down again, and just want an alternative, the other options listed are better fits. If you have the time to look at doing more than that, then check out fossil https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki - It isn't git - Works best with smaller teams - You need to be ok self hosting (single binary, easy to do) The first point is really the killer. It is revision contro", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for small teams", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789385984, "item_id": 49336624, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336624", "by": "timedude", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Try Fossil", "excerpt": "Try Fossil https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789338320, "item_id": 49333645, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333645", "by": "rwl", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the docs are good at explaining (and justifying) the differences, and the built-in features are very useful", "excerpt": "Yep, it\u2019s not for everyone, and their docs are pretty clear about that. OTOH those same docs contain a variety of arguments that git isn\u2019t really designed for everyone either and that fossil might be a better fit for projects that have just one or a handful of developers, which AFAIK is the vast majority of projects on Github. My experience is that it is certainly an adjustment but the docs are good at explaining (an", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for small projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789337792, "item_id": 49333612, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333612", "by": "zhynn", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil, I have been using it for all of my projects for the last couple years. Things that I love include: 1. batteries included single-file functionality (fossil binary + sqlite file and I have everything!) 2. Hosting them is super easy, I have a lighttpd server configured to do cgi-bin, and i just pop the project.fossil file onto the server and I have a project. The biggest friction is managing users across ", "context": "", "use_case": "personal project repositories", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789327585, "item_id": 49332974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332974", "by": "bigstrat2003", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm personally very partial to Fossil, it works well and is dead easy to set up.", "excerpt": "Whatever you do, you should self-host it. Then you aren't going to be at the mercy of some third party when they start to get hammered by vibe coders doing an insane amount of traffic. Forgejo is a great option if you want something git-based. I'm personally very partial to Fossil, it works well and is dead easy to set up.", "context": "", "use_case": "self-hosted version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789326480, "item_id": 49332905, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332905", "by": "sssilver", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "There's no rebase, on principle. Branch names are permanent attributes of commits.", "excerpt": "The workflow is paradigmically different, and that may throw many people off. There's no rebase, on principle. Branch names are permanent attributes of commits. Even abandoned branches remain visible forever. Code review is post-hoc. People who are extremely accustomed to Git workflows may find the paradigm alienating.", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789324576, "item_id": 49332786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332786", "by": "rwl", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fossil\u2018s simplicity is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has to use git from a CLI. Well worth a try", "excerpt": "I started using fossil recently and have been quite pleased with this aspect of it. I miss a few things from the git world (mostly magit and its magical ability to stage individual hunks of a diff) and there are a few rough edges, but I totally agree that having a wiki and issue tracking inside the repository makes so much sense. fossil\u2018s simplicity is a breath of fresh air for anyone who has to use git from a CLI. W", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in wiki and issues", "switched_from": "Git", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 789313888, "item_id": 49332118, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49332118", "by": "sssilver", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "storing PRs and issues and wiki inside the repository itself, similar to how Fossil[1] does it", "excerpt": "If only there was a convention for storing PRs and issues and wiki inside the repository itself, similar to how Fossil[1] does it. Then all the GitHubs and Gitlabs of this world would be limited to just providing UI and would be unable to hold our data hostage by design. [1] https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with built-in issues", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to GitHub"}, {"id": 780751185, "item_id": 48796949, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48796949", "by": "chairmansteve", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love the minimalism of his programs, SQLLite and Fossil.", "excerpt": "D. Richard Hipp is up there for me. I love the minimalism of his programs, SQLLite and Fossil. Also involved in Tcl, my favourite language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._Richard_Hipp", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who is the best computer programmer of all times?"}, {"id": 778141536, "item_id": 48633846, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48633846", "by": "zdgeier", "date": "2026-06-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm also secretly a massive fan of Dr. Hipp and his work on FossilSCM [1]. I love a bunch of his design decisions there", "excerpt": "I'm also secretly a massive fan of Dr. Hipp and his work on FossilSCM [1]. I love a bunch of his design decisions there and wanted to apply them to a new system. [1] https://fossil-scm.org", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Git is forever. I'm building Oak anyways"}, {"id": 777324608, "item_id": 48582788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48582788", "by": "59nadir", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Currently I use Fossil for most projects, but it's not a compelling choice (just like git) for when you have binary stuff.", "excerpt": "Honestly, when our backend team merged into one that was using Perforce for the backend learning how to use Perforce wasn't realistically even a blip on the radar of what to get used to. I was against it at the time for what we were doing but with the benefit of hindsight I can say that I prefer something like Perforce if someone can manage it for me, or it's a set-and-forget type situation; I don't personally have a", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Epic Games announces Lore version control system"}, {"id": 767181219, "item_id": 47948826, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47948826", "by": "gawa", "date": "2026-04-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "fossil is a broader all-in-one solution: not only a new Version Control System", "excerpt": "Some alternative forge are built with decentralization in mind: - forgejo [1] is working on ForgeFed [2], an extension of ActivityPub (the protocol made popular by Mastodon) - tangled is built on top of ATproto (the protocol behind Bluesky) [3] - radicle is rolling their own protocol, more peer-to-peer than federated [4] - fossil is a broader all-in-one solution: not only a new Version Control System (a replacement f", "context": "", "use_case": "VCS plus forge", "switched_from": "", "story": "HashiCorp co-founder says GitHub 'no longer a place for serious work'"}, {"id": 767067952, "item_id": 47941747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47941747", "by": "wps", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it so easily allows me to get right back into the context of a project", "excerpt": "I am still so salty that Git won out for the average project over Fossil. Sure Git has some performance advantages for massive codebases like the Linux Kernel, but the vast majority of projects will never run into performance limits from their VCS. Fossil\u2019s internal tools (wiki, forum, tickets<issues>, etc) are just so useful to have versioned with your code in one file. I use Fossil for all my freelance work and it ", "context": "freelancer", "use_case": "version control for freelance work", "switched_from": "Git", "story": "Before GitHub"}, {"id": 767042560, "item_id": 47940160, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47940160", "by": "velcrovan", "date": "2026-04-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I wish the prevailing SCMS were more like Fossil, where issues and forum posts, at least, are part of the repository", "excerpt": "> To the \"Git is distributed!\" crowd: the issue isn't Git, it's the infrastructure we rely on around it: issues, PRs, Actions, etc. Yet again, I wish the prevailing SCMS were more like Fossil, where issues and forum posts, at least, are part of the repository (and everything lives in a single sqlite file). (Of course Fossil actively opposes \"pull requests\", separate issue)", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty is leaving GitHub"}, {"id": 762035504, "item_id": 47627219, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47627219", "by": "sgbeal", "date": "2026-04-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "bash, bc, convert, cp, df, du, fossil, grep, less, tail, make, man, mc,", "excerpt": "According to: $ history | awk '{print $2}' | sort -u Slightly edited: bash, bc, convert, cp, df, du, fossil, grep, less, tail, make, man, mc, mkdir, mv, ps, rm, ssh, scp, sudo, tar, gzip, unzip", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Which CLI tools do you use daily?"}, {"id": 749982032, "item_id": 46873877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873877", "by": "its_magic", "date": "2026-02-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fossil is my favorite as it's easier to use than git", "excerpt": "Good man. Like I said, it's obvious you're going places. D is a good language. You chose well. Walter Bright would be happy to see what you're doing here. If you're not using version control yet, now's a good time to start, as it will help with the cleanup work. Fossil is my favorite as it's easier to use than git, but whatever you like is fine. More people use git than fossil so it's good to learn it and master it. ", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "G Lang \u2013 A lightweight interpreter written in D (2.4MB)"}, {"id": 748544672, "item_id": 46784042, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46784042", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Email isn't a wiki, bug tracking, documentation and all the other stuff Fossil offers as part of their core design.", "excerpt": "Email isn't a wiki, bug tracking, documentation and all the other stuff Fossil offers as part of their core design. The point is for it to be in one place, and local-first. If you don't trust me, read the list of features and give it a try yourself: https://fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki", "context": "", "use_case": "version control with wiki and bug tracking", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}, {"id": 748466000, "item_id": 46779125, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46779125", "by": "smartmic", "date": "2026-01-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects.", "excerpt": "I use Fossil extensively, but only for personal projects. There are specific design conditions, such as no rebasing [0], and overall, it is simpler yet more useful to me. However, I think Fossil is better suited for projects governed under the cathedral model than the bazaar model. It's great for self-hosting, and the web UI is excellent not only for version control, but also for managing a software development proje", "context": "uses it for personal projects", "use_case": "personal project version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "I made my own Git"}, {"id": 745411505, "item_id": 46588219, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46588219", "by": "rcarmo", "date": "2026-01-12", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the web interface was _so_ dated", "excerpt": "It still looks _exactly_ the same way as a decade ago (well, there were some CSS tweaks). I used to use it for my own projects until friction overcame my tastes, but I remember one of the things I really didn't like about it was that the web interface was _so_ dated. I love Gitea because it feels a lot like GitHub (and hence I don't have to remember where things are). Edit: Wow, it supports markdown now? and a forum?", "context": "", "use_case": "version control for own projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fossil versus Git"}, {"id": 745402448, "item_id": 46587653, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46587653", "by": "shane_kerns", "date": "2026-01-12", "stance": "compare", "quote": "The infrastructure around fossil and jujitsu are missing. Git isn't the best but network effects matter.", "excerpt": "The infrastructure around fossil and jujitsu are missing. Git isn't the best but network effects matter. For example, we use jenkins at work and there is no plugin for fossil or jujitsu. Every customer we have uses git so we can't even propose fossil. Even though we might use only 10 git commands, those commands are universally known by all to work if something goes wrong. It isn't sufficient to say that fossil or ju", "context": "uses Jenkins at work; all customers use git", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fossil versus Git"}, {"id": 740938848, "item_id": 46308678, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46308678", "by": "0xCE0", "date": "2025-12-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Fossil, I love SQLite, and I also like Althttpd.", "excerpt": "I love Fossil, I love SQLite, and I also like Althttpd. https://sqlite.org/althttpd/doc/trunk/althttpd.md Just like Fossil vs Git, SQLite vs $SomeRealSQLServer, I wish someday Althttpd would become a no-bullshit self-contained replacement for Nginx/Apache/whatever bloated HTTP servers. It has already proved its working by serving Fossil/SQLite, but configuration/features for serving actual web site is not yet \"real p", "context": "", "use_case": "version control", "switched_from": "", "story": "How SQLite is tested"}]}