Charm++ parallel programming system

[Eric Bohm <ebohm AT illinois.edu>]

We’re planning a transition next month from the locally maintained Gerrit / Git / Redmine toolchain to Github.

This will result in a transition to the Github pull request and review process, away from the push to Gerrit and review process.  Likewise, our instance of the Redmine issue tracker will be replaced by GitHub Issues.

The GitHub infrastructure and pull based work flow has become the default process for most open projects, so we anticipate that shifting to it will make it easier for current and future collaborators. Furthermore, it will allow us to reduce the system administration burden and should result in improved overall user experience for our code repository and test infrastructure. 

The transition process will result in several disruptions, so we’re reaching out to start a discussion about how to make the transition as painless as possible.

When: 

* We are targeting a post Charm-6.9.0 release timeframe. We expect that to be in November.

What:

* Old branches will not be transitioned unless a specific request is made.

* Unmerged patches older than 6 months will not be transitioned unless a specific exception is made by request.

* Redmine issues will be synced over to GitHub.  Maintaining continuity of authorship for those will require some cooperation, an email will be forthcoming with details.
* Other projects, such as NAMD, Projections, and OpenAtom will be transitioned later in coordination with the developer teams associated with them.
* Private and paper repositories will be transitioned later, as necessary

How:

* During the transition Gerrit and Redmine will stop accepting updates and the new GitHub https://github.com/UIUC-PPL/charm repository will become the authoritative master.

* Ancient (digital dust measured in years) unmerged branches will not be transitioned

* The default branch will be master instead of charm
* Redmine records will be converted to GitHub issues.  The identity of Redmine contributors will be converted to GitHub IDs, in some cases this will require action on the part of the individual contributor.  A followup email will be sent to those contributors to discuss that process.