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More about collaboration

Different types of remotes:

  • If you have a server you can ssh to, you can use that as a remote.
  • GitHub is a popular, closed-source commercial site.
  • GitLab is a popular, open-core commercial site. Many universities have their own private GitLab servers set up.
  • Bitbucket is yet another popular commercial site.
  • Another option is NotABug

Centralized workflow

```{figure} img/centralized.svg :alt: Centralized layout :width: 50%

Centralized layout. Red is the repository on GitHub. Blue is where all contributors work on their own computers. 

- Centralized workflow is often used for remote collaborative work.
- `origin` refers to where you cloned from (but you can relocate it).
- `origin/mybranch` is a read-only pointer to branch `mybranch` on `origin`.
- These read-only pointers only move when you `git fetch`/`git pull` or `git push`.

## Distributed version control and Forking workflow

```{figure} img/forking-overview.svg
:alt: Centralized layout
:width: 50%

Forking workflow.  **Red** is the central repository, where only
owners have access.  **Green** are *forks* on Github (copy for a
single user to work on).  **Blue** are local copies where contributors
work on their own computer.

In the forking layout described above we work with multiple remotes, in this case two remotes: One remote refers to the "central" repository, and the other remote refers to the fork.

  • Working with multiple remotes is not as scary as it might look.
  • origin is just an alias/placeholder.
  • We can add and remove remotes.
  • We can call these aliases/placeholders as we like.
  • We typically synchronize/updates remotes via the local clone.
  • To see all remotes use git remote -v.
  • If you are more than one person contributing to a project, consider using code review.

How to contribute changes to somebody else's project

  • Avoid frustration and surprises by first discussing and then coding.

Contributing very minor changes

  • Fork repository
  • Create a branch
  • Commit and push change
  • File a pull request or merge request

If you observe an issue and have an idea how to fix it

  • Open an issue in the repository you wish to contribute to
  • Describe the problem
  • If you have a suggestion on how to fix it, describe your suggestion
  • Possibly discuss and get feedback
  • If you are working on the fix, indicate it in the issue so that others know that somebody is working on it and who is working on it
  • Submit your fix as pull request or merge request which references/closes the issue
- Communicate and discuss before coding massive changes.
- **Cross-reference discussions, proposals, and code changes**.