Re: [pcre-dev] PCRE infrastructure is moving

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Author: Lucas Trzesniewski
Date:  
To: Pcre-dev <Pcre-dev@exim.org>
Subject: Re: [pcre-dev] PCRE infrastructure is moving
Hello,

I think GitHub is a good choice, as it's the standard host for open source
projects nowadays, and is really convenient.
But I would avoid splitting this project between GitHub and SourceForge. A
few observations:

> There does not seem to be any way of uploading externally
> produced releases and signatures to GitHub


GitHub provides a Releases page for each project, where you can create a
release associated with a git tag.
This page lets you upload your own binaries for each release.

> * Conveniently, SourceForge supports mailing lists, so a new mailing list
> will be created at SourceForge. I'm afraid you will all have to
> re-subscribe.


I know you were using mailing lists for a long time, but maybe you could
try the Discussions
feature on GitHub before you create a second mailing list. It needs to be
enabled in your project settings
and provides a dedicated place to communicate without having to create
issues.
People who are interested in participating can watch the repository and be
notified of any new posts.

I don't know if you intend to keep the existing svn history, but it would
be a plus.
The migration process would be a bit more complicated but I think it's
worth the trouble.
There are tools which can help, such as git svn clone, but I never have
used any of them so I can't really comment.

I wasn't a member of this mailing list when you sent the original message,
so I hope my reply will get threaded correctly.
Good luck with the migration!

Regards,

Lucas Trzesniewski





On 2021-08-18 16:34, Philip Hazel wrote:

> For many years my former employer, the University of Cambridge, has hosted


> the infrastructure (source repository, Bugzilla, release distribution

site,

> mailing list) for PCRE, for which support I am very grateful. Bugzilla and


> the mailing list have shared support with Exim. However, all good things


> must come to an end, and the time has come to move PCRE to somewhere else.


> I intend to start this process in the next day or two. A summary and the


> details follow - if anyone has any comments, please post them or send


> directly to me as soon as possible. Thanks.


>


> SUMMARY


>


> * PCRE1 is at end-of-life and there are plenty of copies of the tarball


> around. I plan to work only with PCRE2.


>


> * The source code repository will move to GitHub. There is support for


> access to GitHub from SVN clients.


>


> * The GitHub issues facility will replace Bugzilla. Outstanding issues in


> Bugzilla will be re-created by hand (luckily there are not very many).


>


> * PCRE2 releases are built by running "make distcheck", which does a lot


> more than just copying all the repository files into a tarball (in fact,


> not all are copied). The resulting tarballs (.gz, .bz2, .zip) and then


> signed by me. There does not seem to be any way of uploading externally


> produced releases and signatures to GitHub. Therefore:


>


> * Release tarballs and their signatures will be uploaded to a SourceForge


> project.


>


> * Conveniently, SourceForge supports mailing lists, so a new mailing list


> will be created at SourceForge. I'm afraid you will all have to


> re-subscribe.


>


> DETAILED PLAN


>


> 1. Create a new repo on GitHub.


>


> 2. Populate the new repo by importing from vcs.exim.org/pcre2/code/trunk.


> Check for any configuration that might need changing, both for the repo

and

> for issues support.


>


> 3. Clone the new repo onto my local workstation. Sort out .gitignore and

my

> private files (test configs etc.) and do a test build.


>


> 4. Test the ability to do an svn client checkout from the GitHub repo so


> that it can be documented (I do not intend to use this facility myself).


>


> 5. Update some files and push to the repo to test that it's all working

and

> that I have sussed out what to do with git. Several documentation files


> mention exim.org so will need to be updated. Also README.


>


> 6. Post to pcre-dev that the change has started, the repo has moved, and


> Bugzilla should no longer be used, being replaced by GitHub issues. I

think

> there is a button on Bugzilla to disallow the creation of new issues -


> don't know if I have permission to do that, though.


>


> 7. Tell those auto-testers that I know about that the repo has moved (


> opencsw.org, oss-fuzz, coverity).


>


> 8. Create a pcre2 project on SourceForge.


>


> 9. Populate the SF project with the current 10.37 release tarballs. See if


> there's a good place in the GitHub repo to add a pointer or link to this


> site.


>


> 10. Set up an SF mailing list. Call it pcre2-dev to emphasise that it's

for

> PCRE2.


>


> 11. Post to the old pcre-dev about the new list and ask people to

subscribe

> to it. Note that the old pcre-svn list will be abandoned - I think the


> notification features of GitHub can take over that job (tell me if I'm


> wrong).


>


> 12. Ask postmaster@??? to forward mail to pcre-dev@??? to the new


> list. This means leaving the new list open to non-subscribers for a while,


> unless there is a way to detect and accept such messages with a closed

list.

>


> 13. Go through the list of outstanding Bugzilla issues and create GitHub


> issues for those that are still relevant. I have downloaded a list of my


> issues, but there may still be some JIT ones in addition which I hope


> Zoltán will help with.


>


> 14. Ask webmaster@??? to update references to the releases, repo,


> Bugzilla, and the mailing list, and to perhaps add a note to the SF pcre


> project, pointing to the new pcre2 project. What happens to other mail @


> pcre.org? Could pcre2-dev@??? redirect to


> pcre2-dev@???, or would that be too much traffic?


>


> 15. Edit the pcre page on Wikipedia to update the references and links.

See

> if it's possible to set up a pcre2 page that is a synonym.


>


> 16. Post to the old pcre-dev list to say that it's all happened, and


> publish the new URLs for everything.


>


> 17. Tell exim-maintainers and the manager of the old infrastructure that


> PCRE has now moved and is independent of Exim.


>


> 18. Consider whether to create a GitHub Pages site - and see if anything


> needs editing on my existing personal site at quercite.dx.am.


>


> 19. Resume life...


>


> Regards,


> Philip


>


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