<s>
In	O
FOSS	B-License
development	O
communities	O
,	O
a	O
forge	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
web-based	O
collaborative	B-Application
software	I-Application
platform	O
for	O
both	O
developing	O
and	O
sharing	O
computer	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
forge	B-Protocol
refers	O
to	O
a	O
common	O
prefix	O
or	O
suffix	O
adopted	O
by	O
various	O
platforms	O
created	O
after	O
the	O
example	O
of	O
SourceForge	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
usage	O
of	O
the	O
word	O
stems	O
from	O
the	O
metalworking	O
forge	B-Protocol
,	O
used	O
for	O
shaping	O
metal	O
parts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
software	B-Application
developers	I-Application
it	O
is	O
an	O
online	O
service	O
to	O
host	O
the	O
tools	O
they	O
need	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
their	O
coworkers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
code	O
itself	O
is	O
stored	O
in	O
a	O
revision	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
system	I-Architecture
and	O
linked	O
to	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
bug	B-Application
database	I-Application
,	O
continuous	O
integration	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
FOSS	B-License
development	O
community	O
forks	O
,	O
it	O
duplicates	O
the	O
content	O
of	O
the	O
forge	B-Protocol
and	O
is	O
then	O
able	O
to	O
modify	O
it	O
without	O
asking	O
permission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
community	O
may	O
rely	O
on	O
services	O
scattered	O
on	O
multiple	O
forges	B-Protocol
:	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
necessarily	O
hosted	O
under	O
the	O
same	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
uncommon	O
for	O
discussions	O
to	O
be	O
hosted	O
on	O
Discourse	O
while	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
is	O
hosted	O
on	O
Gitea	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
users	O
,	O
a	O
forge	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
repository	B-Application
of	I-Application
computer	I-Application
applications	I-Application
,	O
a	O
place	O
where	O
bugs	B-Application
can	I-Application
be	I-Application
reported	I-Application
,	O
a	O
channel	O
to	O
be	O
informed	O
of	O
security	O
issues	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	B-Protocol
forges	I-Protocol
became	O
popular	O
in	O
2001	O
,	O
and	O
have	O
proven	O
successful	O
as	O
a	O
software	O
development	O
environment	O
for	O
millions	O
of	O
software	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
different	O
kinds	O
of	O
concepts	O
are	O
commonly	O
referred	O
to	O
by	O
the	O
term	O
forge	B-Protocol
:	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
these	O
platforms	O
provide	O
similar	O
tools	O
helpful	O
to	O
software	B-Application
developers	I-Application
working	O
in	O
the	O
hosted	O
projects	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
web	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
,	O
it	O
is	O
common	O
for	O
a	O
forge	B-Protocol
to	O
provide	O
a	O
REST	O
API	B-General_Concept
with	O
the	O
a	O
documentation	O
(	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
GitLab	B-Application
,	O
Gitea	B-Application
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Forge	B-Protocol
users	O
can	O
also	O
install	O
webhooks	B-Protocol
to	O
notify	O
a	O
third	O
party	O
online	O
service	O
when	O
an	O
event	O
happens	O
on	O
their	O
software	O
project	O
(	O
for	O
instance	O
the	O
webhook	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
called	O
when	O
a	O
new	O
issue	O
is	O
created	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Federation	O
and	O
the	O
associated	O
protocol	O
ActivityPub	B-Operating_System
(	O
introduced	O
in	O
2018	O
)	O
allows	O
forges	B-Protocol
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
each	O
other	O
about	O
their	O
activities	O
(	O
for	O
instance	O
when	O
issues	O
are	O
created	O
or	O
a	O
commit	O
is	O
pushed	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Third	O
party	O
projects	O
emerged	O
to	O
bridge	O
the	O
gap	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
plugin	O
for	O
the	O
pagure	O
forge	B-Protocol
or	O
a	O
proxy	O
supporting	O
ActivityPub	B-Operating_System
and	O
translating	O
it	O
to	O
REST	O
API	B-General_Concept
calls	O
to	O
the	O
designated	O
forge	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
SSO	O
that	O
applications	O
and	O
users	O
could	O
rely	O
on	O
to	O
authenticate	O
with	O
all	O
forges	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
it	O
is	O
common	O
for	O
a	O
forge	B-Protocol
to	O
support	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
authentication	O
providers	O
:	O
if	O
a	O
user	O
already	O
has	O
an	O
account	O
they	O
can	O
use	O
it	O
to	O
authenticate	O
on	O
the	O
forge	B-Protocol
and	O
do	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
new	O
account	O
(	O
for	O
instance	O
GitLab	B-Application
supports	O
OAuth2	O
providers	O
such	O
as	O
GitHub	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
forges	B-Protocol
can	O
act	O
as	O
an	O
authentication	O
provider	O
(	O
for	O
instance	O
Gitea	B-Application
is	O
an	O
OAuth2	O
provider	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
GitLab	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
improve	O
the	O
user	O
and	O
the	O
system	O
administrator	O
experience	O
when	O
using	O
multiple	O
online	O
services	O
,	O
some	O
forges	B-Protocol
are	O
integrated	O
with	O
popular	O
third-party	O
software	O
and	O
services	O
such	O
as	O
online	B-Protocol
chat	I-Protocol
(	O
for	O
instance	O
mattermost	B-Protocol
has	O
a	O
plugin	O
for	O
GitHub	B-Application
and	O
is	O
natively	O
support	O
by	O
GitLab	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GForge	B-Protocol
Community	O
Edition	O
(	O
last	O
release	O
April	O
23	O
,	O
2010	O
)	O
,	O
not	O
to	O
be	O
confused	O
with	O
the	O
proprietary	O
GForge	B-Protocol
first	O
released	O
October	O
1	O
,	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BerliOS	B-Protocol
(	O
It	O
was	O
disbanded	O
in	O
2014	O
,	O
some	O
projects	O
have	O
been	O
moved	O
to	O
Joinup	B-Application
collaboration	I-Application
platform	I-Application
.	O
)	O
</s>
