Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Decentralized git repo software with watch and fork features?

[Nicolás Reynolds]

"Niels G. W. Serup" <ns@metanohi.name> writes:

> Does anyone know if there exists a decentralized piece of software with
> the same features as GitHub's easy-to-do watch and fork features? The
> watch feature allows a user on GitHub to continually see the changes
> made to a repository that user does not commit to, and the fork feature
> allows a user to to branch a repo and further develop on it without
> having to gain commit access to the original repo.
>
> Now, both of these features are very simple, and I know Gitorious has
> them. You can also do it with just the 'git' command. The reason I used
> GitHub as an example is that, for some reason, more people use GitHub
> than Gitorious. What I'm asking if exists is something small and simple,
> that does not even store the actual git repos, but just references them;
> a pretty web interface. People should be able to continue to do that
> "social coding" thing which GitHub has made its slogan.
>
> The reason is that, while I /could/ install Gitorious on my server,
> gitolite or gitosis does not require me to have the overhead of an
> integrated code sharing program like Gitorious. Also, I don't know if
> Gitorious supports the OStatus-like functionality I think would be cool:
> that people could watch and fork repositories from other servers onto
> their own. If Gitorious does have that feature, I will consider
> installing it on my server instead of gito{lite,sis}. But I would still
> prefer a simpler OStatus-or-something-similar-supporting web interface
> that allowed me to manage my repositories outside of it.
>
> Not everyone thinks that GitHub is that much of a problem; neither do
> I. It encourages sharing of code, which is a good thing. But I think
> it's silly, or even wrong, that GitHub hides its own code. Since users
> do not rely on GitHub for their personal data (like Facebook) or run it
> outside a sandbox on their own computer (like MS Windows), users still
> maintain control over their data and computing. One thing about GitHub
> that I'm guessing might cause problems is that it makes its users used
> to using centralized services, a habit they might carry on to services
> such as Facebook that might actually harm them; but this is purely
> speculative. My real issue with GitHub is simply that they hide useful
> information in the form of source code. Also, I always prefer
> decentralized solutions when possible.
>
> So what I'm basically asking for if exists is this: StatusNet with text
> messages replaced by commit messages (and of course some other
> primitives).
>
> If it doesn't exist, I'm guessing it will not be difficult to patch
> together a git hook, some OStatus code, and a bit of HTML.

sounds interesting, can i throw some xmpp in? :P

i've been hacking on something like this, i'll post results soon. if i
understand correctly, you want automatic&distributed watch and pull
requests, no? something more than running cgit and an access control
system.

ps: btw, at parabola we just use ssh instead of gitosis:
https://projects.parabolagnulinux.org/hackers.git/

ps2: there was bananajour which worked over avahi

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