[Haskell-cafe] ANN: darcsden 1.1 released, darcs hub news 2013/07

[Simon Michael]

Hi all, here is a combined darcsden and darcs hub update.

darcsden 1.1 released
=====================

darcsden 1.1 is now available on hackage! This is the updated version
of darcsden which runs hub.darcs.net, so these changes are also
relevant to that site's users. (More darcs hub news below.)

darcsden is a web application for browsing and managing darcs
repositories, issues, and users, plus a basic SSH server which lets
users push changes without a system login. It is released under the
BSD license. You can use it:

- to browse and manage your local darcs repos with a more comfortable UI
- to make your repos browsable online, optionally with issue tracking
- to run a multi-user darcs hosting site, like hub.darcs.net

http://hackage.haskell.org/package/darcsden - cabal package \
http://hub.darcs.net/simon/darcsden         - source \
http://hub.darcs.net/simon/darcsden/issues  - bug tracker

Release notes for 1.1
---------------------

Fixed:

* 16: Layout of links and navigation places them offscreen
* 21: anchors on line numbers exist but line numbers not clickable
* 28: forking then deleting a private repo makes repos unviewable
* 29: darcs get to an invalid ssh repo url hangs
* 46: if user kills a push, the lock file is not removed, preventing
  subsequent pushes

New:

* the signup page security question is case-insensitive ("darcs")
* login redirects to the "my repos" page
* a more responsive layout, with content first, buttons at top/right
* many other UI updates; font, headings, borders, whitespace, robustness
* more context sensitivity in buttons & links
* better next/previous page controls
* better support for microsoft windows, runs as a service
* builds with GHC 7.6 and latest libraries
* easier developer builds

Brand new, from the Enhancing Darcsden GSOC (some WIP):

* you can sign up, log in, and link existing accounts with your Google
  or Github id
* you can reset your password
* you can edit files through the web
* you can "pack" your repositories, allowing faster darcs get

Detailed change log: http://hub.darcs.net/simon/darcsden/CHANGES.md

How to help
-----------

darcsden is a small, clean codebase that is fun to hack on. Discussion
takes place on the #darcs IRC channel, and useful changes will quickly
be deployed at hub.darcs.net, providing a tight dogfooding/feedback
loop. Here's how to contribute a patch there:

1. register at hub.darcs.net
2. add your ssh key in settings so you can push
3. fork your own branch: http://hub.darcs.net/simon/darcsden , fork
4. copy to your machine: darcs get http://hub.darcs.net/yourname/darcsden
5. make changes, darcs record
6. push to hub: darcs push yourname at hub.darcs.net:darcsden --set-default
7. your change will appear at http://hub.darcs.net/simon/darcsden/patches
8. discuss on #darcs, or ping me (sm, simon at joyful.com) to merge it

Credits
-------

Alex Suraci created darcsden. Simon Michael led this release, which
includes contributions from Alp Mestanogullari, Jeffrey Chu, Ganesh
Sittampalam, and BSRK Aditya (sponsored by Google's Summer of Code).
And last time I forgot to mention two 1.0 contributors: Bertram
Felgenhauer and Alex Suraci.

darcsden depends on Darcs, Snap, GHC, and other fine projects from the
Haskell ecosystem, as well as Twitter Bootstrap, JQuery, and many more.





darcs hub news 2013/07
======================

http://hub.darcs.net , aka darcs hub, is the darcs repository hosting
site I operate. It's like a mini github, but using darcs. You can:

- browse users, repos, files and changes
- publish darcs repos publicly or privately
- get, push and pull repos over ssh
- grant push access to other members
- fork repos, then view and merge upstream and downstream changes
- track issues

The site was announced on 2012/9/15
(http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.darcs.user/26556).
Since then:

- The site has been deploying new darcsden work promptly; it includes
  all the 1.1 release improvements described above.

- The server's ram has doubled from 1G to 2G (thanks Linode). This
  means app restarts due to excessive memory use are less frequent.

- The front page's user list had become slow and has been optimised,
  halving the page load time.

- BSRK Aditya is doing his Google Summer of Code project on enhancing
  darcsden and darcs hub (mentored by darcs developer Ganesh
  Sittampalam). Find out more at http://darcs.net/GSoC/2013-Darcsden .

- The site is being used, with many small projects and a few
  well-known larger ones. Quick stats as of 2013/07/19:

		user accounts                       317
		repos                               579
		disk usage                            2.5G
		uptime last 30 days                  99.48%
		average response time last 30 days    1.6s

- The site remains free to use, including private repos.  Eventually,
  some kind of funding will be needed to keep it self-sustaining, and
  could also enable faster development. Donate button ? Gittip ?
  Charge for private repos ? Let's discuss.

Please try it out, report problems, and contribute patches to make it
better.



Best,
-Simon