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Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

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Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#41

Post by masukomi »

zonotope wrote: post #26
pdonis wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a decentralized git remote How is the git remote you provide "decentralized" as compared with the remote provided by GitHub?

Anyone can run a Sia node, and anyone will (eventually) be able to run a Tupelo node, but only GitHub manages GitHub. It's decentralized because these networks were designed not to be managed by a single entity, unlike GitHub.

anyone who is running git is _already_ running a distributed git node which is not managed by a single central entity.

there are many _many_ web based git apps (many of which provide github like features) that anyone can, in theory, set up.

why would I want to set up a sia node instead?

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#42

Post by kazinator »

tylersmith wrote: post #36
kazinator wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only problem is, according to a conventional understanding of git, there is no such thing as a "decentralized git remote"; maybe can you do a better job of explaining what that is? Every [remote ...] entry in your .git/config points to some concrete URL. Even if you have a plurality of these (thanks to git being decentralized), each one of them is a single location that could be a single point for some activity.

I don't know anything about dgit yet but regarding this general idea: what you say true from the perspective of your git client but that URI could be a gateway to a decentralized backend. If you're familiar with IPFS, imagine IPFS gateways for git repos. The gateways themselves are centralized but they're just feeders into a decentralized network.

So "decentralized" is a synonym for "distributed"?

Suppose I mount, under /path, some kind of distributed filesystem whose storage is replicated among many servers (for fault tolerance, availability, and performance) and then store a git repo into /path/to/repo.git.

If I clone from this, so that my origin is "file:///path/to/repo.git", is that then a decentralized git remote?

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#43

Post by lucideer »

bpw wrote: post #30
brian_herman__ wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you provide advantages to ssb?

dgit dev here: first, let me say git-ssb is a great project as well! We see a few distinct advantages: - Using dgit doesn't require running a "node" of any kind (aka an SSB peer). This is possible because of the unique architecture of the Tupelo DLT: https://github.com/quorumcontrol/tupelo . - Because of ^, installing and adding a dgit remote to your existing workflow is super easy. - The storage in dgit is separated…

> Using dgit doesn't require running a "node" of any kind (aka an SSB peer)

Can you expand on this? An SSB "peer" is entirely local, so conceptually similar to a `.git` directory.

I'm struggling to understand how a decentralised system can operate without peers.

(I clicked through on the Tupelo link, but from what I can glean from the README, a Chain Tree sounds very similar to an SSB peer. Just trying to understand the distinction)

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#44

Post by stingraycharles »

Tyr42 wrote: post #3
jedimastert wrote: post #2

I'm a little confused. Isn't git already decentralized? Like, most of the time there one true repo everyone else grabs from, but it doesn't have to be. What am I missing? Edit: oooooh, this takes the centralization away from Git Hub . I feel like that's non obvious from the name, but I could be wrong.

With three simple steps you can create a decentralized mirror of your existing github project. All changes will be automatically propogated to the mirror version and the git services you depend on will be there when you need them.

Isn’t this more about replication / mirroring then than about decentralization?

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#45

Post by lucideer »

zonotope wrote: post #17
lucideer wrote: post #16

As others have commented, this appears to be a decentralised alternative to GitHUB rather than Git itself (which is already decentralised). For a similar project, see git-ssb https://git.scuttlebot.io/%25n92DiQh7ietE%2BR%2BX%2FI403LQoy...

Another Dgit deve here. You're right. Git is decentralized, but most people use centralized git remotes like GitHub. Dgit makes using a decentralized git remote easier. Eventually we'll build more decentralized alternatives to other GitHub features, but the most important value proposition that GitHub provides now is as a git remote, so that's what we started with. We've provide a GitHub action that allows you to use…

While I know there are many devs out there who confuse & conflate "Git" and "Github" and don't really know the difference between the two, I don't think bringing the conflation into "informed" discussion is particularly helpful.

Conceptually, Github is not different for the local ".git" folder sitting on my machine. I can do `git clone '../some/local/dir/.git" just as easily as I can with any SSH or HTTPS link: the underlying protocol used for the transaction changes but the concept does not. So I think defining a "remote" as something inherently centralised by definition just because Github et al are popular isn't helpful: it simply persists the misconception.

Basically: I'm still actually struggling to really fully understand what dgit is.

git-ssb is a protocol for accessing git repos stored in an ssb-db (which is a distributed db). git-ssb-web is a web UI for exposing git repositories stored in an ssb-db.

Can you explain dgit in those terms?

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#46

Post by ChristianBundy »

bpw wrote: post #30
brian_herman__ wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you provide advantages to ssb?

dgit dev here: first, let me say git-ssb is a great project as well! We see a few distinct advantages: - Using dgit doesn't require running a "node" of any kind (aka an SSB peer). This is possible because of the unique architecture of the Tupelo DLT: https://github.com/quorumcontrol/tupelo . - Because of ^, installing and adding a dgit remote to your existing workflow is super easy. - The storage in dgit is separated…

> Using dgit doesn't require running a "node" of any kind (aka an SSB peer)

I'm not sure that I understand this, could you add details? The only interpreteation that makes sense is "you don't have to run any software on your computer", but that would suggest that the storage is centralized on some internet services.

Happy to chat about SSB any time. Good luck on this project!

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#47

Post by asdkhadsj »

lucideer wrote: post #45
zonotope wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another Dgit deve here. You're right. Git is decentralized, but most people use centralized git remotes like GitHub. Dgit makes using a decentralized git remote easier. Eventually we'll build more decentralized alternatives to other GitHub features, but the most important value proposition that GitHub provides now is as a git remote, so that's what we started with. We've provide a GitHub action that allows you to use…

While I know there are many devs out there who confuse & conflate "Git" and "Github" and don't really know the difference between the two, I don't think bringing the conflation into "informed" discussion is particularly helpful. Conceptually, Github is not different for the local ".git" folder sitting on my machine. I can do `git clone '../some/local/dir/.git" just as easily as I can with any SSH or HTTPS link: the u…

I too am confused.

My immediate thought was that Dgit offered a centralized remote, packaged around decentralized technology. Which is to say, many people have a main "master"; a single, centralized repo/branch. Dgit might be offering the same thing, but hosted in a decentralized fashion. I could see the value in this for backup, I suppose.

Sure, Git is decentralized but many of us still prefer having some centralization. Bundling that up into a decentralized system (aka no third party host) has some value.

Though really to me if I was avoiding Github/Gitlab/etc, the primary value add I'd want to see is all of the Github/Gitlab UI features. Notably pull requests, code reviews, comments, basic issue tracking, etc.

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#48

Post by asdkhadsj »

masukomi wrote: post #41
zonotope wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone can run a Sia node, and anyone will (eventually) be able to run a Tupelo node, but only GitHub manages GitHub. It's decentralized because these networks were designed not to be managed by a single entity, unlike GitHub.

anyone who is running git is _already_ running a distributed git node which is not managed by a single central entity. there are many _many_ web based git apps (many of which provide github like features) that anyone can, in theory, set up. why would I want to set up a sia node instead?

Perhaps the Sia node gives you access to a "master" repo. Aka a single entity that represents a centralized repo, but hosted on a decentralized system.

Not sure though.

Re: Dgit: Git with decentralized remotes

#49

Post by ChristianBundy »

bpw wrote: post #30
brian_herman__ wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you provide advantages to ssb?

dgit dev here: first, let me say git-ssb is a great project as well! We see a few distinct advantages: - Using dgit doesn't require running a "node" of any kind (aka an SSB peer). This is possible because of the unique architecture of the Tupelo DLT: https://github.com/quorumcontrol/tupelo . - Because of ^, installing and adding a dgit remote to your existing workflow is super easy. - The storage in dgit is separated…

Also: Does this work offline, or on just a LAN? To be completely candid, I feel very strongly that we should be moving away from decentralized protocol that require anything more than two friends and a wifi network.
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