dehub/README.md

# dehub

dehub aims to provide all the features of a git hosting platform, but without
the hosting part. These features include:

**User management** - Authentication that commits come from the user they say
they do, and fine-grained control over which users can do what.

**Pull requests and issues** - Facilitation of discussion via comment commits,
and fine-grained (down to the file level) sign-off requirements.

**Tags and releases**\* - Mark releases in the repo itself, and provide
immutable and verifiable git tags so there's never any funny business.

**Plugins**\*: Extend all aspects of dehub functionality via executables managed
in the repo itself (in the same style as git hooks).

## Key Concepts

To implement these features, dehub combines two key concepts:

First, repo configuration is defined in the repo itself. A file called
`.dehub/config.yml` contains all information related to user accounts, their pgp
keys, branch and file level access controls, and more. Every commit must adhere
to the configuration of its parent in order to be considered _verifiable_. The
configuration file is committed to the repo like any other file would be, and so
is even able to define the access controls on itself.

Second, the commit message of every dehub commit contains YAML encoded metadata,
which allows dehub to extend git and provide multiple commit types, each with
its own capabilities and restrictions. Some example dehub commit types are
`change` commits, `comment` commits, and `credential` commits.

## Infrastructure (or lack thereof)

Because a dehub project is entirely housed within a traditional git project,
which is merely a collection of files, any existing git or network filesystem
infrastructure can be used to host any dehub project:

* The most barebones [git
  daemon](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-on-the-Server-Git-Daemon) server
  (with a simple pre-receive hook set up).

* A remote SSH endpoint.

* A mailing list (aka the old school way).

* Network file syncing utilities such as dropbox,
  [syncthing](https://github.com/syncthing/syncthing), or
  [NFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_File_System).

* Existing git project hosts like GitHub, Bitbucket, or Keybase.

* Decentralized filesystems such as IPFS\*.

_\* Planned feature, but not yet implemented._

# Getting Started

The dehub project itself can be found by cloning
`https://dehub.dev/src/dehub.git`.

Installation of the dehub tool is currently done via the `go get` command:

```
go get dehub.dev/src/dehub.git/cmd/dehub
```

This will install the binary to your `$GOBIN` path, which you'll want to put in
your `$PATH`. Run `go env` if you're not sure where your `$GOBIN` is.

Once installed, running `dehub -h` should show you the help output of the
command. You can continue on to the tutorials if you're not sure where to go
from here.

## Tutorials

The following tutorials will guide you through the basic usage of dehub. As
dehub is still very much in development a high level of git and PGP profiency is
still required in order to use dehub effectively.

TODO

## Documentation

The [SPEC](/SPEC.html) is the best place to see every possible nitty-gritty
detail of how dehub works. It attempts to be both human-readable and exhaustive
in its coverage.

## Other links

[ROADMAP](/ROADMAP.html) documents upcoming features and other work required on
the project. If you're looking to contribute, this is a great place to start.

[dehub-remote](/cmd/dehub-remote/) is a simple docker image which can be used to
host a remote dehub project over http(s). The endpoint will automatically verify
all pushed commits.

[git-http-server](/cmd/git-http-server/) is a small server which makes a git
repo's file tree available via http. It will automatically render markdown files
to html as well. git-http-server is used to render dehub's website.