Is there anything we can do from our side? We're very interested in making it easier to integrate with GitLab, but also happy to invest some time into making existing integrations easier to set up.
Our hope is that with time, it'll become obvious that when developing an application, you integrate with GitLab as well as with BB and GH.
Since I have your attention, something else that I think should be on your radar is creating/defining supported injection points in GitLab's UI. If you haven't done so, you should look at what Microsoft has done with Visual Studio Team Services.
By providing supported injection points in GitLab's UI, GitLab will be able to signal to others, that they are a solution you can safely build on top of.
Right now, to integrate deeply, you'd have to go through the heavy-handed process of creating a service [0]. That then does allow you to do almost anything, but the barrier to entry for that is high.
I created an issue for your proposal and hope you can provide some more feedback on how this would work, ideally [1].
I'm constantly impressed by how involved GitLab engineers are not just on HN but other communities when brought up. Not sure if you guys have people constantly looking for mention of "GitLab" but even if you are, the responsiveness and agreeableness to look into issues and invite people to be a part of the solution they seek out are phenomenal habits and I applaud you guys for it. It's one of the many reasons I converted a while back from Github and probably wont be looking back anytime soon.
This is great to hear and I personally think this the next battle front for gaining/retaining Git users in Enterprise. I'm currently working on integrating with Bitbucket and Microsoft, and I'll comment on the issue in a few weeks and provide some feedback.
Maybe create a plugin for Visual Studio, like GitHub does. Also try to work with JetBrains to make their GitHub plugin work with GitLab?
The GitHub plugin is available during installation, both with Visual Studio and JetBrains products, which makes it much more convenient to use. Things like creating a gist from code in IntelliJ or PyCharm also work out of the box with github.
We're exploring the VisualStudio option but as Job said we currently don't have the knowledge to make that happen. I've logged an issue for this request https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/20686 you can back it and follow it there.
As for JetBrains, we discussed this option with them - it would help if you create an issue for that on their platform as a user request to surface it. The more demand their users will have for this request the more likely it is to happen.
Our hope is that with time, it'll become obvious that when developing an application, you integrate with GitLab as well as with BB and GH.