DEV Community

Cover image for GitHub vs. GitLab - Explained for Dumb People Like Me
Tech-withtata
Tech-withtata

Posted on

GitHub vs. GitLab - Explained for Dumb People Like Me

If you're anything like me, maneuvering through the complicating technological world of coding can be tough. There are so many websites and services, and they all sound so similar (why - I don't know). But, you might find yourself wondering, what's the difference between GitHub and GitLab, and why should I even know what they are?

Well, in one quick analogy, I'm going to try explaining the difference to you. If you've ever been on Minecraft, you'll know there's public and private servers. Think of GitHub as a public server, and GitLab as a private server. In a private server on Minecraft, you can set administrative access to things like who's allowed to break which blocks, who are allowed to enter the server or not, etc. GitLab is the same way.

GitLab allows users to edit code in realtime privately, whereas GitHub anyone is allowed to edit (much more public)

You may now be wondering, "gee, how do I use GitLab on my computer?"...well that's a wonderful question! Here's how...

1) Utilize a cloud service that allows you to host the GitLab software. In my specific scenario, I used Reclaim Cloud since it allows users to "pay while they go" rather than paying for a set price (think: similar fairness to paying for an electric bill).

2) When you make a Reclaim Cloud account, upgrade to premium, you're going to want to load money up too!

3) When you're on the main website, go to the "Applications" tab and then enter your email into GitLab to download it onto your Reclaim Cloud. Eventually, it will download and you will have the GitLab link on your dashboard.

4) Go into "Change Environment Topology" and toggle the panel of "cloudlets" to maximum capacity. Although this is more expensive, it will allow your server to run much more smoothly and effectively; it's worth the extra cash.

5) Add whichever repositories you want to the account! And then you're off!

Watch this video of me attempting to do this all here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fAWWV0phdI&feature=youtu.be

Top comments (0)