[ZF] Repository choice: Please indicate your preference until Sunday 9/23

[Jens Vagelpohl]

Hi all,

As most of you know, we have had a long-running discussion on the Zope developer mailing list about switching the version control software away from the current Subversion and possibly hosting it somewhere else. To move forward, the board of directors has decided to distil the various trains of thought from the discussion into a simpler set of choices and get a hopefully broad set of input, consisting of an informal foundation membership "straw poll" on this mailing list. At the bottom of this email you will find the requirements[1] the board has used to come up with these choices and the board recommendation. To avoid any further delays the simple poll is all this mail is supposed to kick off, not another long line of arguments for or against specific solutions. You have all week long to reply, I would like to "close" this informal poll this coming Sunday (September 23) and would then present the results.

Before I introduce the three choices as well as the board's own official recommendation please note the following: This is an informal vote that you can join by simply sending your reply to this mailing list (foundation at zope.org), or sending a new mail. There's no specific format you have to follow as long as it is easy to see which choice you like best. Saying "I don't like any of these choices" is a valid answer as well.

The choices are:


1) Retain the status quo: We stick with Subversion and the existing infrastructure on svn.zope.org. Nothing changes.

2) GitHub only: The foundation will create writable GitHub repositories under the "zopefoundation" GitHub name. Every contributor must then open a GitHub account and we'll try to map current contributors to those GitHib accounts (the details haven't been fully planned)

… and the official recommendation from the board of directors, which in our opinion provides the best compromise between the foundation's charter to safeguard the code and keep a clean "chain of ownership" on one side and the convenience of the GitHub web interface on the other side:

3) Self-hosted Git repositories with read-only GitHub clones: The foundation will provide Git repositories and surrounding infrastructure like a Web viewer on foundation-owned hardware, creating a "git.zope.org" site analogous to the existing "svn.zope.org" and the still-running "cvs.zope.org". The current authentication mechanism using SSH keys is retained, and apart from the difference in VCS systems and URLs your login remains the same. In addition, we will create read-only GitHub clones for all those who desire the GitHub web interface.


Thanks in advance for letting us know which solution you prefer.

jens


[1] Zope Foundation requirements for a suitable source code hosting service:

1) Read access for everyone including anonymous viewers
2) Write access for signed contributors only
3) Signed contributors must be able to create new repositories 
  themselves (current analogy: A contributor adds a new project on 
  svn.zope.org)
4) Good verification that a login to the chosen system represents 
  a specific person/contributor (current example: access via 
  unique SSH logins with keys)
5) Only ZF-appointed contributor admins may open access for contributors 
  after receiving and verifying signed contributor agreements (currently 
  Andreas Jung as officially appointed contributor committee member and 
  Christian Theune as board member and contributor committee member handle 
  this job)
6) Only ZF-appointed contributor admins (see above) may change or revoke 
  access privileges for contributors
7) a reasonably convenient web view onto the repositories/projects for 
  visitors and contributors
8) a reasonably convenient way (e.g. web admin capabilities) for the ZF 
  contributor adminstration to do their job

--
Jens Vagelpohl
Secretary, Zope Foundation Board of Directors