Project hosting

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HowTo [ID# 115979]  +/-

If you're looking to start an OLPC-related project, we are happy to host your code. We can also provide related infrastructure services. Projects must be distributed under a license that provides freedom for the users; please stick to the GPL, LGPL or the MIT license for software; and CC-BY, CC-SA, or the GFDL for text and media, unless there's a compelling reason to do otherwise. A more comprehensive guide to software licensing is available.

What we host

We want to provide hosting for projects that already have a bit of code and a basic roadmap. Generally, you should create a page about the project here on this wiki, and have at least 50 lines of code written, before applying. Conversely, if you have more than 50 lines of code written for a project, you should get it into git. If you feel your project should be hosted right away despite not having much code, please explain in the "Notes" part of the application.

What we provide

• one or more source code repositories, via git, the version control system used by the Linux kernel
• a bug tracker, via Trac
• a web-based source code repository browser, via gitweb
• web and file space, either on laptop.org or on a domain you own for the project (but not a developer's personal domain)
• mailing lists, via Mailman
• commit notifications by e-mail
• shell accounts, as needed
• translation services via our Pootle installation
• other infrastructure services that you request, within reason, such as a blog or a separate project wiki

Hosting takes place on a fast server with lots of disk space and bandwidth. We have standardized on the git version control system, as it's blazingly fast and reasonably simple to use. If you have a compelling reason to use a different VCS, please note this in the "Notes" section.

How to apply

Copy and paste the following application into an e-mail, fill it out, and send it to the devel mailing list. You should be subscribed to the list to monitor the thread and address any questions or concerns from other developers and staff.

If you have trouble logging in, or require further privileges, please request these in an e-mail to sysadmin@rt.laptop.org.

The application

The application form is available at Project hosting application. Bare with the process; the antiquated email exchange works well with developing countries.

Public/Private Key Pairs

The application will ask for a public key.

The use of public keys is not optional in OLPC's security system. Without a private/public keypair, they could set up a repository but you would not ever be able to access it. The ssh key is necessary in order for you to be able to connect to the repository. It serves in place of a password. If you are not familiar with the use of public key infrastructure, you can learn about it at wikipedia

In the Unix/Linux/Mac environment, you can use ssh-keygen to create the public/private key pair.

In our case you need only do step one above and provide us with the public key or a link to it in your application. We will provision the server with it. You must be responsible to keep track of your private key as there is no reasonable way to recover it if lost or compromised.

In the Windows environment, the free program puttygen.exe can be used to create a public/private key pair, and the program pageant.exe can be used to facilitate connection to your account using your private key once we have set up your account with the public key you will provide to us.

Importing your project

See Importing your project to learn how to move your code into your OLPC repository, and read Using a central git tree to find out how to use git.