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diff --git a/www/gsoc-ideas.md b/www/gsoc-ideas.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d14f1a --- /dev/null +++ b/www/gsoc-ideas.md @@ -0,0 +1,177 @@ +# List of Projects and Tasks + +This list was made for the Fossil project's application for [Google Summer of Code](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/) in 2021. That application was +unsuccessful, but still this list is a starting point for anyone looking +for a place to start. We welcome newcomers, and invite developers to follow the simple +[procedures for contributing to Fossil](./contribute.wiki). The +[hacker how-to](./hacker-howto.wiki) is recommended reading. + +There are two implementations of the Fossil data model: + +* [the classic Fossil project](https://fossil-scm.org) , which is where this file is maintained and + which is as of 2021 how everyone interacts with Fossil objects +* [libfossil](https://fossil.wanderinghorse.net/r/libfossil), which is an independent project to manipulate Fossil objects from a library, or using commandline tools which are thin wrappers to the library + +As of 2021 the two implementations have an identical implementation of the +Fossil data model, are 100% compatible in terms of data access since they use +the same SQL, and are 100% binary compatible in terms of on-disk storage. + +The projects listed here are grouped by functionality - User Interface, Integration, Email, +etc. If you are looking for something easy to start with, then depending where +your interests lie, there are some small libfossil tasks and small +features to work on in the UI. + +# UI, Look and Feel + +Tasks for those interested in graphic/web design: + +* Add a quote button to the Forum, such as [discussed in this thread](https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forumpost/7ad03cd73d) +* Improve the documentation history-browsing page to enable selection of 2 arbitrary versions to diff, similar to the [Mediawiki history feature enabled on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fossil_\(software\)&action=history) +* Allow diffing of Forum posts +* General touch-ups in the existing skins. This may, depending on how deep one + cares to dig, require digging into C code to find, and potentially modify, how + the HTML is generated. +* Creation of one or more new skins. This does not specifically require any C + know-how. +* Complete per-feature CSS facilities in [the Inskinerator](https://tangentsoft.com/inskinerator/dir) and add features to the Inskinerator + +# Projects Relating to Fossil Integration + +* Fossil hooks for pipelines with CI/CD such as static analysis, Buildbot, Gerrit, Travis and Jenkins are not well-documented and may need some further development. Make this work better, with configuration examples +* Create a [Pandoc](https://pandoc.org) filter that handles Fossil-style Markdown +* Create a [Pandoc filter that handles Pikchr](https://groups.google.com/g/pandoc-discuss/c/zZSspnHHsg0?pli=1) (Pikchr can be used with many kinds of layout, not just Markdown) +* Editor integration: [improve the Fossil VSCode plugin](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=koog1000.fossil) or [create a Fossil plugin for Eclipse](https://marketplace.eclipse.org/taxonomy/term/26%2C31) +* Develop a test suite for the draft JSON API in libfossil. This JSON API is a way of integrating many kinds of systems with Fossil +* Re-implement the draft JSON API in libfossil to use the JSON capability in SQLite, now that SQLite has JSON. This is a large project and would start with feasibility analysis + +# Adding Inbound (Receiving) Email to Fossil + +This task involves designing a new feature and working with Fossil developers to +see how it can be feasible in practice. + +Fossil can [send email alerts](./alerts.md), but cannot receive email at all. +That is a good thing, because a complete [SMTP +MTA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTA) is complicated and requires constant +maintenance, so Fossil should not try to be an MTA or ever listen to mail ports +on the Internet. + +There is one specific type of email reception that make sense for Fossil to +handle. When there is inbound mail related to a message that Fossil has +previously generated with a unique hash, Fossil already knows the context of +that message. An unknown sender cannot guess a valid hash although a malicious +sender could of course find a way to receive a valid hash and then use that to +gain access. The risk of automatic and non-specific spam is very low. + +A proposal to handle that would be to implement a Fossil command like this: + +``` +fossil email -R repo receive -t TYPE-OF-EMAIL -h HASH +``` + +Where the type of email would be one of a list something like this: + +* mail_bounce +* ticket_reply +* forum_reply + +This command is a non-network-aware [Mail Delivery +Agent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_delivery_agent), and would be called +by an SMTP MTA such as Postfix, Courier or Exim. The MTA would need to be +configured to recognise that this is an email intended for Fossil, and what +type of email, and to extract its hash. People who configure MTAs are used to +doing this sort of thing, but no doubt Fossil would include a sample +[Postfix mail filter](http://www.postfix.org/FILTER_README.html#simple_filter) and +an equivalent driver for Exim. + +The Fossil command would reject anything that doesn't look like a bounce it is expecting. + +It is not certain that this design is the best one to address the inbound mail +problem. That is why the first part of this task is to find a workable design. + +# Work relating to the ticketing system in Fossil + +The Fossil SCM project uses tickets in a [somewhat unusual manner](https://fossil-scm.org/home/reportlist) +because the social programming +model has evolved to often use the Forum instead of ticketing. Other Fossil-using projects +use tickets in a more traditional report-a-bug manner. So this means that the +Fossil ticketing system user interface is underdeveloped. + +On the other hand, pretty much every software developer uses a ticketing system +at some point in their workflow, and Fossil is intended to be usable by most +developers. That means the ticketing system really needs to be further +developed. The underlying technology for the Fossil ticketing system is +guaranteed, so to improve it requires only user interface changes. + +Projects relating to the ticketing system include: + +* Improving the [Fossil cli for tickets](https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forumpost/d8e8a1cf92) which is confusing, as pointed out in that ticket. This is still classified as a "user interface" even though it isn't graphical. +* Alternatively, instead of improving Fossil's cli, implement a comprehensive ticket commandline with [libfossil's primitives](https://fossil.wanderinghorse.net/r/libfossil/wiki/home), look under the f-apps/ directory. +* Improving the Fossil web UI for ticketing, which is clunky to say the least. Fossil tries not be a heavy user of Javascript and Javascript libraries, but the wikiedit, chat and Forum code are all more advanced than ticketing, +and have UI features that would improve ticketing +* If there is an inbound email system as per the previous section "Adding Inbound (Receiving) Email to Fossil", then implement this system for ticketing + +# Tasks Requiring Fossil Data Model Knowledge + +The Fossil data model concepts are simple, but the implications are quite subtle and impressive. The data model +is designed to [endure for centuries](./fileformat.wiki), +be [easily accessible](./fossil-v-git.wiki#durable), and is [non-relational](./fossil-is-not-relational.md). +You will need to understand the data model to work on the following tasks: + +* Add the ability to tag non-checkin artifacts, something supported by + the data model but not the current CLI and UIs. This would open the + door to numerous new features, such as "sticky" forum posts and + per-file extended attributes. This could also relate to the RBAC + system. +* Implement "merge" and "stash" in libfossil +* Analyse the different kinds of [split/export/shallow clone](https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forumpost/1aa4f8ea8c6f96) use cases for Fossil including [complete bifurcation](https://fossil-scm.org/forum/forumpost/6434a06871). There are many proposals, relating to many different use cases, and a good analysis would help us to work out what should be implemented, and what should be implemented in Fossil and what is instead a libfossil wrapper + +# Fossil is cool + +There are many reasons why Fossil is just plain cool: + +* Fossil is symbiotically connected with [SQL and SQLite](5631123d66d96) +* Fossil is highly portable accross different operating systems +* Fossil is the [only credible alternative to Git](./fossil-v-git.wiki) +* Fossil is both ultra-long-term stable and has a high rate of development and new features +* Fossil has thought deeply about Comp Sci principles including [CAP Theorem](./cap-theorem.md) and [whether Fossil is a blockchain](./blockchain.md) +* Fossil has two independent implementations of the same data model: Fossil and libfossil + +and a lot, lot more, in the source, docs, forum and more. + + + + +``` pikchr center toggle +// Click to see the rendered diagram this describes, +// written in Fossil's built-in pikchr language, see https://pikchr.org +// +// based on pikchr script by Kees Nuyt, licensed +// https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ + +scale = 1.0 +eh = 0.5cm +ew = 0.2cm +ed = 2 * eh +er = 0.4cm +lws = 4.0cm +lwm = lws + er +lwl = lwm + er + +ellipse height eh width ew fill Bisque color CadetBlue +L1: line width lwl from last ellipse.n +line "click for" bold above width lwm from last ellipse.s +LV: line height eh down + +move right er down ed from last ellipse.n +ellipse height eh width ew fill Bisque color CadetBlue +L3: line "example of Fossil" bold width lws right from last ellipse.n to LV.end then down eh right ew +line width lwm right from last ellipse.s then to LV.start + +move right er down ed from last ellipse.n +ellipse height eh width ew fill Bisque color CadetBlue +line width lwl right from last ellipse.n then to L1.end +line "coolness" bold width lwl right from last ellipse.s then up eh + +``` + + |