The Dutch government is working on code.overheid.nl, its own git environment based on Forgejo.
The Dutch government is working on its own alternative to GitHub: code.overheid.nl. The demand for an independent git environment for the government has grown in recent years, mainly due to increasing focus on digital sovereignty. Many government organizations currently still use external platforms such as GitHub or GitLab, but these do not meet the requirement that the government must maintain control over critical infrastructure. Code.overheid.nl, built on Forgejo, is intended to change this.
Forgejo as a fundamental choice for digital sovereignty
The government consciously chose Forgejo instead of GitLab. Forgejo is fully open source and offers all the freedoms necessary for digital autonomy, such as modifying and distributing the source code. GitLab has an open-core model: the basic version is open source, but advanced features fall under a proprietary license.
This creates a risk of vendor lock-in, where organizations become dependent on paid features. Forgejo, as a non-profit project, guarantees that all functionality remains free. Furthermore, it aligns with the principle of public money, public code: tax money invested in software must be publicly accessible.
Building together with developers and organizations
The platform is being built not just for, but with developers. Government organizations already using Forgejo can contribute via issues and pull requests. This should reduce the chance of unusable functionality, as the users themselves help determine what is developed.
The project is currently in a pilot phase and is being rolled out step by step. Not all government organizations can sign up yet, but teams with experience in Forgejo can join now. The goal is to build a fully-fledged alternative to GitHub, where developers can share tools, templates, and pipelines together.
Code.overheid.nl is ultimately intended to become a central hub where government organizations can manage their repositories and APIs. Currently, developer.overheid.nl and other initiatives are still dependent on external git environments. With their own platform, they can standardize tools and workflows, which benefits quality and collaboration.