The thread discusses the strategy and actions we are completing to ensure the Great Cow BASIC project endures.
The strategy is to open the development community, to increase usability, improve support and remove single points of failure.
Open the Development Community
Currently we have a number of repositories that have the sources, build and release code. They include SourceForge, GitHub and many privately accessed repositories.
We will retain SourceForge for the compiler but everything else will be ported to a single GitHub account called GreatCowBASIC.
Developers will be able to access all repositories to be able to create, adapt and improve Great Cow BASIC.
The move to GitHub will take a lot of effort to decouple the current use of the repositories but in the end having all the repositories in one place means that a developer can see the whole project.
We will move PPSTool, PICINFO, etc, etc and all these tools to the same GitHub account.
Usability
We will be introducing a new cross platform IDE called GCStudio.
The existing SynWrite IDE will not be replaced but all efforts will now focus on GCStudio.
GCStudio will provide not just the IDE but the core method to keep a Great Cow BASIC installation up to date. This is a critical success factor - no more struggling with releases.
We will establish a new web service. This new web site will initially be a copy of SourceForge website but this will be developed to make the Great Cow BASIC .. modern.
We will also establish a new bug tracker to track all the issue and bugs. This will be on the new web site.
We will also establish a new Gold Release (the current release) download area. This will replace the current SourceForge files area - we need greater flexibility to permit shared access to GCStudio.
Single Points of Failure
This is currently the highest risk to the project. We have a number of key people and we need to move from private repositories to public repositories. I am the worse regarding this.
However, the move to public repositories means the project will endure. If I died today then my partner has no interest in sorting out the mess I may leave. This means a huge effort by all to publish the repositories and ALL the related tools and processes. To create a release of Great Cow BASIC is fully automated but it is a private process and we need to get this type of process into the public domain.
So, you will see the GitHub account grow and grow over the coming weeks to remove these single points of failure.
Summary
Things are changing. I will keep this thread updated.
I want to go on vacation and not worry that my servers have not crashed....
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Angel and I have establish a GitHub account for GreatCowBASIC. We are moving all the existing repos to this shared GitHub account. There a lot of repos.
We have also established a new host server. This is a NameCheap hosted service. The now will host the new website, the new bug tracker and it will serve as the main distribution server for all builds and GCStudio. We can do things that we cannot do with SForge and it is a lot faster for downloads.
The thread discusses the strategy and actions we are completing to ensure the Great Cow BASIC project endures.
The strategy is to open the development community, to increase usability, improve support and remove single points of failure.
Open the Development Community
Currently we have a number of repositories that have the sources, build and release code. They include SourceForge, GitHub and many privately accessed repositories.
We will retain SourceForge for the compiler but everything else will be ported to a single GitHub account called GreatCowBASIC.
Developers will be able to access all repositories to be able to create, adapt and improve Great Cow BASIC.
The move to GitHub will take a lot of effort to decouple the current use of the repositories but in the end having all the repositories in one place means that a developer can see the whole project.
We will move PPSTool, PICINFO, etc, etc and all these tools to the same GitHub account.
Usability
We will be introducing a new cross platform IDE called GCStudio.
The existing SynWrite IDE will not be replaced but all efforts will now focus on GCStudio.
GCStudio will provide not just the IDE but the core method to keep a Great Cow BASIC installation up to date. This is a critical success factor - no more struggling with releases.
We will establish a new web service. This new web site will initially be a copy of SourceForge website but this will be developed to make the Great Cow BASIC .. modern.
We will also establish a new bug tracker to track all the issue and bugs. This will be on the new web site.
We will also establish a new Gold Release (the current release) download area. This will replace the current SourceForge files area - we need greater flexibility to permit shared access to GCStudio.
Single Points of Failure
This is currently the highest risk to the project. We have a number of key people and we need to move from private repositories to public repositories. I am the worse regarding this.
However, the move to public repositories means the project will endure. If I died today then my partner has no interest in sorting out the mess I may leave. This means a huge effort by all to publish the repositories and ALL the related tools and processes. To create a release of Great Cow BASIC is fully automated but it is a private process and we need to get this type of process into the public domain.
So, you will see the GitHub account grow and grow over the coming weeks to remove these single points of failure.
Summary
Things are changing. I will keep this thread updated.
I want to go on vacation and not worry that my servers have not crashed....
Update.
Angel and I have establish a GitHub account for GreatCowBASIC. We are moving all the existing repos to this shared GitHub account. There a lot of repos.
We have also established a new host server. This is a NameCheap hosted service. The now will host the new website, the new bug tracker and it will serve as the main distribution server for all builds and GCStudio. We can do things that we cannot do with SForge and it is a lot faster for downloads.
Bug and Issue Tracker
https://www.gcbasic.com/bugtracking/
GitHub Repos
https://github.com/GreatCowBASIC?tab=repositories
Last edit: Anobium 2022-03-03