[neomutt-devel] using sourcehut as alternative, experimental way of contributing (patches with CI)

[toogley]

Hello everybody,

Ihor recently expressed slight interest in using sourcehut and flatcap
said a) it should not be cumbersome or decrease efficiency compared to
github and b) he doesn't want to worry about payment. And c) github
gives neomutt visibility.


So i talked to Drew DeVault about this and he said that we should not
worry. Financial aid, that is using sourcehut for free, will always be
possible for us without questions asked. Well we have to write an email
to Drew asking for it but that's it. Additionally, if my life stabilizes
again i will be able to pay regardless. So the financial part is worked out.

Now i suggest:

* I create a git mirror on sr.ht (or flatcap if he wants to be the owner)

* we create a neomutt-patches mailinglist on lists.sr.ht and announce it
here.

* we create a builds.sr.ht CI which will automatically build incoming
patches sent to the neomutt-patches list.

* still use github issues for tickets

When a patch is sent to the neomutt-patches list like [1], the
builds.sr.ht will notice that and run the CI. when that is done, the CI
will sent a mail to the thread, which will look like that:

-------------------

scm.sr.ht/patches: FAILED in 3m55s

[Support .mkd extension for README files][0] from [Anna “CyberTailor”][1]

[0]: https://lists.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/sr.ht-dev/patches/21274
[1]: mailto:cybertailor at gmail.com

✗ #463076 FAILED  scm.sr.ht/patches/alpine.yml   
https://builds.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/job/463076
✓ #463077 SUCCESS scm.sr.ht/patches/archlinux.yml
https://builds.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/job/463077
✓ #463078 SUCCESS scm.sr.ht/patches/debian.yml   
https://builds.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/job/463078
---------------

As you can see, it will show which builds failed and give a link to the
build job. When you include the X-Sourcehut-Patchset-Update header in
the mail answer to the thread lists.sr.ht will update the status of the
mail[2].

So in essence, i think this actually increases efficency:

1) people who have technical trouble with github for some reason (like i
do currently) can still sent work out for review.

2) it gives us additional visibility on the sr.ht projects page[3]. I
think Drew might even feature our neomutt project for some time, so it
will very prominently be shown on this page: https://sr.ht/ (those
featured projects rotate from time to time).

3) reviewing things in email is more efficient for some people since you
can do everything in the terminal.

thoughts? how many people would subscribe to the neomutt-patches
mailinglist? specifically i am interested what you gahr and flatcap
think about this. Would you subscribe to the neomutt-patches
mailinglist? would you review things there? would you be interested
trying this neomutt-patches mailinglist for your own work?

I am very curious what you all think.


[1]: https://lists.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/sr.ht-dev/patches/21274

[2]: https://sourcehut.org/blog/2020-12-15-whats-cooking-december-2020/

[3]: https://sr.ht/projects