Code review from command line about iron

[avsm]

@albfan We have been considering working with Jane Street to build an open-source version of Iron that is suitable for a distributed Git/Hub|Lab workflow, but its still in the early planning phases. If GNOME is also interested, we should talk in the next few months to compare notes...

/cc @yminsky @samoht

[dwang20151005]

We've had a few people try to run this code outside our walls, and the conclusion has been that it's not worth the trouble. You're better off learning about the system at a higher level and re-implementing the useful bits from scratch.

We actually meant to stop releasing the code (you can read the new README for the reasoning), and it was a mistake that we had this code available for a few days. We've now un-released the code.

If you have any questions toward re-implementing iron, we're happy to discuss.

[albfan]

@avsm count on me to push on it, will ask on IRC and see what people think. I'm even not sure about the API for git providers (for code review)

Are you under any org? Just to know if somebody ask

[yminsky]

And we're not averse to releasing parts of Iron. One obvious tool that could be shared (and could benefit from some contributions!) is patdiff and patdiff4, which are the tools for visualizing simple diffs and diffs-through-a-rebase. And there might be some other core bits that would benefit from sharing, like the core data types for modeling what a reviewer knows (known as a "reviewer brain", in Iron parlance.)

[albfan]

@yminsky As many other "game changer", one thing that could help to spread out a new concept is to let people play with it (as users or hackint on it).

So if release some bits can help to standardize your workflow (so maybe the learning curve for developers inside janestreet gets lowered) I commit you to do it, just to see what happens.

Community can add perspective and valuable feedback.

[albfan]

@yminsky @avsm You can join our mailing list if you want to show your perspective on this

https://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2018-May/msg00055.html

For me is ok to split things and try to generify tools