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I think this discussion somewhat mixes reporting problems and tracking issues. Those two things may look like they are one and the same on the surface, but this is a misconception. They are different problems and need different tools.

Most users who report problems do not have the experience to use an issue tracker in a structured way that helps developers with tracking. It is not rare that the first handful of comments is spent with a back and forth trying to understand what the actual problem may be. This is a necessary part of problem reporting but really not helpful for structured issue tracking.

Personally, I somewhat prefer when people start a discussion here in the forum when they see a problem with Nominatim. It’s prefect for asking clarifying questions. There are lots of knowledgeable people here, who can help with background information on OSM or help tracking down the OSM data that causes the problem. And there are regulars here who are happy to repeat answers to the questions that get asked again and again. I can’t emphasize enough how helpful this is for me as a maintainer. So, when it comes to reporting problems, this forum is just a fine tool for it and it ticks all the boxes on privacy (as far as a public venue can do that).

Issue tracking is a different beast. It has to work for the maintainers and developers. Github currently does the job, not perfectly but well enough. Access to the CI and the ability to communicate across project boundaries are a huge win. Most of the privacy concerns don’t really apply because I do open source development only. Everything is in the open for everyone to see: code, issues, comments. That is a conscious choice. There is also no real lock-in. If you are worried that some information only lives on Github, then there is always the option to mirror/backup the important stuff.

I’m not naive. I understand that there is no such thing as a free lunch, also not on Github. What Microsoft gets out of it, are millions of lines of code they can use without paying license fees. That likely pays for itself a hundred times over. So the deal is: I get an issue tracker and CI, they get the code. I’m fine with that. It’s open source.

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