[ale] GUI for working on a remote Subversion workspace?

[Brian Mathis]

On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 7:39 PM, Ben Coleman <oloryn at benshome.net> wrote:

> This may seem strange, but does anyone know of a GUI for managing a
> remote subversion workspace (the workspace resides on a remote server,
> primarily reachable via ssh).  Note that I'm not wanting to reach the
> repository server via ssh (which is well documented), but to deal with a
> subversion workspace reachable via ssh.  I've got an intern or two I
> want doing development on a software workspace on a server, and I'd
> rather avoid sticking X on the server.  I'm also not sure I want to drop
> them into the command line for that yet.  Would be nice if there was
> some something like Tortoise that could deal with a workspace on the
> other end of an ssh connection.
>
> Ben
> --
> Ben Coleman oloryn at benshome.net | For the wise man, doing right trumps
> http://oloryn.benshome.net/     | looking right.  For the fool, looking
> Amateur Radio NJ8J              | right trumps doing right.



Dear Ben,

First, I would like to warn you that you have asked a question about a
topic that is likely to elicit replies that do not address your actual
problem, but instead inform you that you're doing it wrong, or you need to
switch to the new software du jour, and generally assume that, even with
very little details, they know what's best for your situation.


As for your actual question, what you are looking for is not very common
and probably does not exist, as almost all tools out there would assume the
workspace is local.  So that leaves you with trying to make the remote
workspace appear to be local, or to bring the remote display to the local
machine.

You mention that you don't want to install X on the server, but are you
aware that you do not need to actually have X windows running on the remote
server to use it?  You only need to have the libraries installed, and you
can use your local workstation to display the GUI.  This would be ideal for
your situation.

The general setup goes like this:
- On the server: install the GUI tool, like rapidsvn.  Pay attention to the
dependencies it requires.  Unfortunately, some software will bring a huge
amount of dependencies with it, but that might be fine for you if you have
the disk space.  I usually test this step by installing 'xterm', and trying
out the rest of these steps using that to make sure it's working.

- On the workstation: install an X Windows server (if using MS Windows,
cygwin has an XWin server for free).  On Linux you probably already have it
installed (it's your main GUI already)

- On the workstation: ssh to the remote server using the -X option, which
will enable X windows forwarding over ssh.  When logged into the remote
server, run the GUI tool, and it should pop up on your local display.
There are many guides on Google that can help you with this.

Depending on the distance and speed of the Internet/WAN link, it might be a
little sluggish, but it does work, and it brings the remote GUI to your
local workstation.


❧ Brian Mathis
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