Updates to the postgresql.org git service

nospam@example.com (Magnus Hagander) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:06:00 +0000

As Peter has already noted, we have been planning for a while to update the service on git.postgresql.org, and as of now we just flipped the switch to the new version. We are still waiting for the DNS zone to update (yes, we could've lowered the TTL. No, we didn't think it was that important). So within 5 hours, anybody accessing git.postgresql.org through http, git or ssh will be accessing the new server.

First a note to all those people who use the git clone of the main cvs repository to do PostgreSQL development: nothing has changed for you. The URL is the same, the repository is the same, just keep pulling.

The only real difference there should be that the new server the service is hosted on has a little bit more bandwidth available, but it should not normally be noticeable.

The changes are all around the repositories that are originally hosted at the site. The changes have been made to make it easier to collaborate on projects, and to require less manual work to set things up. It is our hope that this will lower the bar of entry for those who are interested in developing PostgreSQL-related projects using git. The main changes for these users are:

Login is now integrated with the postgresql.org community account system. This means unified usernames across PostgreSQL services, such as for example the wiki. You just need to upload your SSH key to enable access.
Users no longer have shell accounts on the server. Instead, all users use git@git.postgresql.org as their ssh login. This makes the management and securing of the server much easier.
It is now possible for the owner of a repository to delegate permissions to other users directly from a web interface. As long as the other user has also uploaded his ssh key, this will be completely automatic.
It is now possible to request a new repository for your code using the same web interface. Requests for new repositories will still have to be approved before the repository is created.

Per an inventory that was made before the switch was made, several inactive repositories were not migrated to the new server. If you are missing a repository that was for some reason not migrated, feel free to contact us at the pgsql-www mailinglist for a recovery - we will keep all the old files around for a while just in case.

As a final note, the source code for the git management tool itself is of course available in the git repository (when your DNS has updated).

Todays trivial git tip

nospam@example.com (Magnus Hagander) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:38:25 +0000

If you're like me, you are using the git.postgresql.org repository to do your PostgreSQL development, because it's much nicer to work with than CVS.

If you're also like me, you like git diff with it's nice coloring and trailing-whitespace-warnings and such features. But you're a little bit annoyed that your tabs come out as 8-characters, when the PostgreSQL source uses 4-character tabs, making diffs a bit hard to read. But if you just pipe the output to less or something, the coloring goes away.

I finally got around to looking for a way to fix that today. And it took me all of 2 minutes to find it - I really should've done this before. Put the following in your .git/config file:

[core]
  pager = less -x4

and it'll show you the diffs with 4-space tabs.

Trivial, yes. But it took me this long to even look at fixing it, so hopefully this can help someone...

Magnus Hagander's PostgreSQL blog - git

Updates to the postgresql.org git service

Todays trivial git tip