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Suggestion: improve the opening summary paragraph: "Radicle is an open source, peer-to-peer code collaboration stack built on Git. Unlike centralized code host

by jbstack 8mo ago

Suggestion: improve the opening summary paragraph: "Radicle is an open source, peer-to-peer code collaboration stack built on Git. Unlike centralized code hosting platforms, there is no single entity controlling the network. Repositories are replicated across peers in a decentralized manner, and users are in full control of their data and workflow." From this, I can't tell how it's any different to just plain self-hosted Git. A well written introduction should tell the reader immediately what the software actually does. If it's meant to be an alternative to something like gitea / forgejo then say that, with a brief summary of features that build on top of Git.

endiangroup 8mo ago
AD: Feel free to take a stab at an alternative, we're an open source project and we accept and welcome discussions but patches more so! What would read better in your opinion?
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- bigbadfeline 8mo ago
  > What would read better in your opinion? You're asking someone else to describe what your project is doing? The lack of good description isn't unique, I've bee skipping more and more of those lately, but asking others to tell the developers what they've developed is new in my book.
  - __david__ 8mo ago
    Sometimes when you’re close to something it’s very hard to describe it because you’ve been looking at it from all angles for so long that when someone else approaches it from a different direction it’s hard to see what blind spots they might have. It’s not crazy to ask people for input and it’s not crazy to say “we’re open to patches if you just want to do it yourself”. For me personally I was (and still am a bit) unclear on what being “based on git” means. Can I just rebase with abandon? Is there a concept of force push? Can I safely use lazy-git, tig, commit-patch, and other git utilities? Or is it more integrated and i have to use the rad cli to avoid corrupting the git repo? What about the issues? If I write some software and publish it with radicle, is there a way for plain git client to clone the repo without installing radicle (and without keeping a plain git mirror somewhere)?
- 533474 8mo ago
  it reads fine to me
the_other 8mo ago
Reading the intro, I feel like I got a good hint about what this is. It sounded like "local first git for teams, without the hell of sharing patches via email". I don't know what gitea or forgejo are, so comparisons wouldn't help me.
- causalscience 8mo ago
  I can tell you. Forgejo is a git server (i.e. you can push to a remove that lives in a different machine) plus a web GUI that allows to list repos, list commits within a repo, navigate commits and files within a commit. The license is Free and Copyleft.
  - zamalek 8mo ago
    You still have to run it on a server somewhere, which Nintendo can get shut down.
    - overfeed 8mo ago
      Nintendo can't shutdown your git server if it's running on a Raspberry Pi in your pantry, or a NAS appliance in your home office/basement. As a matter of fact, Forgejo/Gitea are excellent choices for automatic mirroring of any Git repos you fear may be shutdown by DMCA shenanigans.
      - saurik 8mo ago
        But if people can't find it, then they can't download the code or contribute to the project. And if people can find it, then there is no need to physically wrest your device out of your home: they'll just get your domain name taken away or your ISP to block the connections (at best, if not entirely shut you down).
        iamnothere 8mo ago
        That’s why you host over Tor with an .onion domain. Immune to takedowns.
fwip 8mo ago
Unless something's changed since last I checked it out, it's git "on the blockchain." Including its own RAD-coin token. Edit: removed snarky line.
- lorenzleutgeb 8mo ago
  A lot has changed. But also you must've checked it quite some time ago. It's not on the blockchain anymore since the "heartwood" iteration, which was announced 2023-04-18. Please take some time to re-inform yourself, even just in this HN thread (search for "RAD ", the whitespace is significant).
  - fwip 8mo ago
    Glad to hear it.
- Defelo 8mo ago
  I don't know about previous versions, but afaik since the release of the current heartwood implementation it is neither based on a blockchain nor does it include any "crypto" stuff. If it did, I probably wouldn't be using it.
a-dub 8mo ago
no, it's a distributed peer-to-peer alternative to something like github. it has all the features like a locally hosted forgejo/gitea/gitlab, but it also is built on a distributed and fault-tolerant peer-to-peer network for hosting public projects.
dwa3592 8mo ago
I looked at the page and my understanding was that this is a decentralized github. Teams can collaborate without a company getting access to the code?
int0x29 8mo ago
The existing summary is great. It uses git in the first sentence. Meanwhile forjo's landing page seems to be activly avoiding the words git and source control leaving it a cryptic mess.

by jbstack 8mo ago

endiangroup 8mo ago

AD: Feel free to take a stab at an alternative, we're an open source project and we accept and welcome discussions but patches more so! What would read better in your opinion?

deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
bigbadfeline 8mo ago
> What would read better in your opinion? You're asking someone else to describe what your project is doing? The lack of good description isn't unique, I've bee skipping more and more of those lately, but asking others to tell the developers what they've developed is new in my book.
- __david__ 8mo ago
  Sometimes when you’re close to something it’s very hard to describe it because you’ve been looking at it from all angles for so long that when someone else approaches it from a different direction it’s hard to see what blind spots they might have. It’s not crazy to ask people for input and it’s not crazy to say “we’re open to patches if you just want to do it yourself”. For me personally I was (and still am a bit) unclear on what being “based on git” means. Can I just rebase with abandon? Is there a concept of force push? Can I safely use lazy-git, tig, commit-patch, and other git utilities? Or is it more integrated and i have to use the rad cli to avoid corrupting the git repo? What about the issues? If I write some software and publish it with radicle, is there a way for plain git client to clone the repo without installing radicle (and without keeping a plain git mirror somewhere)?
533474 8mo ago
it reads fine to me

the_other 8mo ago

Reading the intro, I feel like I got a good hint about what this is. It sounded like "local first git for teams, without the hell of sharing patches via email". I don't know what gitea or forgejo are, so comparisons wouldn't help me.

causalscience 8mo ago
I can tell you. Forgejo is a git server (i.e. you can push to a remove that lives in a different machine) plus a web GUI that allows to list repos, list commits within a repo, navigate commits and files within a commit. The license is Free and Copyleft.
- zamalek 8mo ago
  You still have to run it on a server somewhere, which Nintendo can get shut down.
  - overfeed 8mo ago
    Nintendo can't shutdown your git server if it's running on a Raspberry Pi in your pantry, or a NAS appliance in your home office/basement. As a matter of fact, Forgejo/Gitea are excellent choices for automatic mirroring of any Git repos you fear may be shutdown by DMCA shenanigans.
    - saurik 8mo ago
      But if people can't find it, then they can't download the code or contribute to the project. And if people can find it, then there is no need to physically wrest your device out of your home: they'll just get your domain name taken away or your ISP to block the connections (at best, if not entirely shut you down).
      - iamnothere 8mo ago
        That’s why you host over Tor with an .onion domain. Immune to takedowns.

fwip 8mo ago

Unless something's changed since last I checked it out, it's git "on the blockchain." Including its own RAD-coin token. Edit: removed snarky line.

lorenzleutgeb 8mo ago
A lot has changed. But also you must've checked it quite some time ago. It's not on the blockchain anymore since the "heartwood" iteration, which was announced 2023-04-18. Please take some time to re-inform yourself, even just in this HN thread (search for "RAD ", the whitespace is significant).
- fwip 8mo ago
  Glad to hear it.
Defelo 8mo ago
I don't know about previous versions, but afaik since the release of the current heartwood implementation it is neither based on a blockchain nor does it include any "crypto" stuff. If it did, I probably wouldn't be using it.

a-dub 8mo ago

no, it's a distributed peer-to-peer alternative to something like github. it has all the features like a locally hosted forgejo/gitea/gitlab, but it also is built on a distributed and fault-tolerant peer-to-peer network for hosting public projects.

dwa3592 8mo ago

I looked at the page and my understanding was that this is a decentralized github. Teams can collaborate without a company getting access to the code?

int0x29 8mo ago

The existing summary is great. It uses git in the first sentence. Meanwhile forjo's landing page seems to be activly avoiding the words git and source control leaving it a cryptic mess.