Today's Deep-Dive: Gitea

Hey everyone, and welcome to another Deep Dive.

Ever find yourself juggling a bunch of digital projects,

wrestling with code, trying to design a website,

or even just keeping track of changes

in shared documents?

Yeah, definitely.

Well today, we're digging into a tool

that can really help bring some order to that chaos,

and it might be way simpler than you think.

It's called Gitea.

Gitea.

Now if you hear self-hosted software development service,

or even just Git, and your eyes start to glaze over,

don't worry, we're going to break it down

and show you how Gitea can actually

be a pretty smooth entry point into managing

all those digital creations.

Definitely.

Oh, and just a quick shout out before we dive in.

This deep dive is supported by Safe Server, who, by the way,

they provide the hosting infrastructure

for software like this, so you can really

take charge of your digital, what is it, sovereignty?

Sovereignty.

Yeah.

You can find out more about them at www.safeserver.de.

OK, with that out of the way, let's get right to it.

What exactly is Gitaea?

So you can think of Gitaea as your own private online hub.

For managing any project, really,

where you are tracking changes and you're

working with other people.

OK, yeah.

It's technically called a self-hosted all-in-one software

development service.

But what that really means for you

is a central place where you can keep your project files all

nice and tidy, see who made what changes and when,

and just work together smoothly.

So it's all about collaboration.

Very much so, yeah.

Their motto is actually get with a cup of tea.

Painless self-hosted all-in-one software development service.

Get with a cup of tea.

Which I think is pretty spot on.

I love that, especially the painless part.

Especially for newcomers.

For newcomers.

OK, so it's aiming to be user friendly, for sure.

So what are the core things, the core things Gitaea actually

does?

What are the must-know features right off the bat?

So Gitaea offers, well, it offers a pretty powerful set

of tools, really.

At its core, like the foundation is Git hosting.

Then you've got code review features,

which are super helpful for improving the quality

of your work through feedback.

It provides tools for team collaboration, obviously,

which is essential.

You've also got a package registry

to organize those reusable software components.

And even CI-CD, that's continuous integration

and continuous delivery.

Which helps to automate sort of those repetitive

parts of development.

Nice.

So yeah, it's a very comprehensive toolkit, really.

OK, so a comprehensive toolkit.

Now, let's zoom in on that self-hosted thing for a sec.

Why would somebody choose to host this software themselves?

What's the key advantage there for the listener?

So the big win with self-hosting is control.

Control, OK.

Direct control.

Imagine you have like your own digital workshop.

OK.

When you self-host Gitaya, you're setting up that workshop

on your own terms.

You're using your own infrastructure.

This gives you the ultimate say over your data.

Where it lives, who can access it, and how secure it is.

I see, yeah.

It really puts you in the driver's seat in terms of privacy

and how the software operates.

It's in control.

Yeah, you are.

While there are other services out there

that can handle all the technical stuff for you,

self-hosting with Gitaya gives you that independence,

that understanding.

Like that deeper level.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

If that makes sense.

So having your own workshop.

OK, so let's dive into those features

you mentioned a little bit.

First up, Git-hursting.

Let's say I've never even heard of Git.

How would you explain it simply?

And how does Gitaya fit it?

All right, picture this.

You're working on a document.

Let's say a script for this deep dive.

Perfect.

You make some changes.

You hit Save.

Then you make more changes.

Save again.

Save, save, see.

Git is like a super powered version

history for all your projects.

OK, yeah.

It tracks meticulously every single change

you make, who made it, and when.

Interesting.

Gitaya allows you to host your own Git repositories.

Repositories, OK.

Think of a repository as a special folder for your project.

That not only holds all the files,

but also that detailed history of every modification.

So it's not just the current version.

No, no, not at all.

Instead of just living on your computer,

Gitaya puts these project, you can call them time capsules,

online.

Oh, OK, I like that.

It makes it easy to collaborate with others

and have a secure backup.

So it's like a complete safety net for your work.

Exactly, yeah.

I like that analogy.

A project time capsule online.

So if a team is working together,

make sure everyone's on the same page with the latest version.

Absolutely.

And you can always go back if you need to.

You can always go back, which leads us nicely to code review.

Code review, OK.

Now, even if you're not writing like lines of computer code,

the idea is still valuable.

Imagine getting feedback on a draft of, I don't know,

a presentation or a design before it's finalized.

Code review is similar.

It's about having other people look at your changes

before they become permanent.

In software development, this helps

to catch those mistakes early on,

improve the overall quality, and allows team members

to learn from each other.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Gitea provides built-in tools to make that whole review

process clear and efficient.

So it's like having a second pair of eyes on something

before you hit send.

Exactly.

Spot the typos, suggest improvements.

OK, that makes perfect sense.

You also mentioned team collaboration before.

What specific things does Gitea offer

to help people actually work together effectively?

Well, Gitea has several features specifically

designed for teamwork.

OK.

You can manage who has access to your projects

and what they can do with permissions.

Yeah, permissions are important.

There's also an issue tracking system.

You can think of it as a shared to-do list, maybe,

or a bug report log for your project.

Uh-huh, makes sense.

Everyone knows what needs to be done,

what problems need fixing.

And then you've got pull requests,

which are central to that code review process we

were just talking about.

They provide a structured way to discuss proposed changes

and decide whether to incorporate them

into the main project.

So it's all about clear communication,

making sure everyone's on the same page.

It is.

It is.

Organized workflow.

Organized workflows.

OK, so it's not just a storage space.

It's a whole environment.

It is.

For working together on projects from planning to review.

Now, this package registry, that sounds a little more maybe

specialized.

What's the core idea there?

It might sound technical, but the concept

is actually pretty practical.

Especially if you start using reusable components

in your work.

Reusable components, right.

Imagine building with Legos.

Legos, OK, yes.

You have all these pre-made bricks you can use.

Package registry is like a library

for software components.

Allowing you to store and share these pre-built pieces.

We call them packages.

Packages, OK.

So you don't have to build everything

from scratch for every project.

That makes sense, yeah.

Gitea supports loads of different types of packages,

depending on the kind of projects you're working on.

Wow, so there's a lot of variety there.

There is.

For example, if you're working with Rust,

you might use cargo packages.

OK.

For PHP, it's Composer.

OK.

For data science, maybe Conda.

Conda, got it.

Think of it as your own organized collection

of building blocks for your digital creations.

That's a good way to put it.

So many different kinds of building blocks.

So if you're using any of those, Gitea

can help you keep them organized.

Absolutely.

And accessible.

And finally, you mentioned CI-CD or Gitea Actions.

For someone just starting out, what's

the absolute basic idea behind that?

OK, so CI-CD is all about taking some of the manual work

out of the software development process through automation.

OK.

CI stands for Continuous Integration,

which means automatically checking and testing

your code every time you make a change.

Got it.

Just make sure nothing breaks.

Right, so you don't introduce bugs.

Exactly, yeah.

CI-CD, continuous delivery or deployment,

then takes those tested changes and automatically delivers them

to, well, wherever they need to go.

So it's like a continuous flow.

It is.

It is.

Getea Actions is Getea's built-in system for doing this.

And it's even compatible with things called GitHub Actions.

GitHub Actions.

Which are basically pre-written automation scripts

that you can often reuse.

Oh, nice.

It's like having this helpful robot that automatically

checks your work and gets it ready to go.

Nice.

Saving you time and reducing those pesky errors.

Think of it like an automated quality control and delivery

system for your digital projects.

Oh, that's a good way to think about it.

Automation.

A huge time saver, I imagine.

Now, someone listening might be thinking,

OK, this all sounds great.

But is Getea going to be incredibly difficult to set up

and use?

Yeah.

What's your take on the ease of use, especially for beginners?

That's a great question.

I think one of Getea's strengths, especially

for those new to this whole thing,

is it's focused on being lightweight and easy

to get started with.

OK, good, because it's built using a programming language

called Go.

It's very efficient.

And it can run on a wide variety of operating systems,

whether you're using Linux, Mac OS, or Windows.

So pretty much anything.

Pretty much, yeah.

And different types of computer hardware as well.

So you don't need specialized equipment or anything?

No, you shouldn't.

No.

That's reassuring.

So I probably don't need to be a server expert

to get this running.

Not necessarily.

And to make it even easier to just try it out,

Getea actually offers a live online demo at demo.getea.com.

You can play around with a fully functional Getea instance

right in your web browser without installing anything.

They also have a free public service

at getea.com, which has some limitations.

But it's another great way to get a feel for it.

And if you do decide to dive deeper,

their official website has some really comprehensive and well

written documentation to guide you.

Documentation is always key.

OK, so if someone wants to actually install Getea,

what are the basic steps involved?

Is it a huge technical hurdle?

Well, they offer a few options to get started.

The easiest is probably using Getea Cloud, which

is a hosted service, where they handle all the server setup

and maintenance for you.

So they do all the heavy lifting?

Exactly, yeah.

They also have Getea Enterprise for more advanced self-hosting

needs, if that's what you need.

But if you want to host it yourself

on your own computer or server, the process

is surprisingly straightforward.

If you're starting from the source code,

you generally just need to have Go installed on your system.

Go, the language you mentioned.

Yeah, and optionally Node.js for some of the web interface

features.

The process of building Getea from the source code

involves running a simple command, like make build.

Make build, OK.

And then you can launch it with .getea web.

.getea web, got it.

Of course, there are more detailed installation guides

available, but the basic steps are pretty accessible,

especially if you're comfortable using a command line.

So it's not too intimidating, it sounds like.

Now, what if you get stuck or have questions along the way?

Is there a community of Getea users who can help out?

Absolutely.

Getea has a really, really welcoming and active

open source community.

Oh, that's good.

Because it's open source, anyone can

contribute to making it better.

I love that.

So if you're interested in contributing,

the typical process involves making

a copy of the project, which is called forking.

Forking.

Making your changes, that's the patch.

Patch, OK.

Uploading them, that's called pushing.

Pushing, OK.

And then asking the main project to include your changes,

that's submitting a pull request.

Pull request, got it.

So lots of ways to be involved.

Yeah, absolutely.

They also have people all over the world

helping to translate GitEa into different languages

through a platform called Crowdin.

Oh, wow.

That's cool.

For getting help and connecting with other users,

they have active channels like a Discord server.

Discord, OK.

And a discourse forum where you can ask questions,

share your experiences.

That's great.

It's always good to know there's a supportive community

behind a project.

For sure.

And finally, just to give listeners a little more

confidence, are there actual teams, organizations out there

using Kitea successfully?

Yes.

Kitea is used by a wide range of teams and organizations.

OK.

On their official website, they even feature testimonials

from users who rely on it daily for their projects.

Nice.

Highlighting its ease of use, the rich feature

set, the reliability.

Awesome.

Well, we won't go into specific quotes right now

to keep things concise.

Right, right.

The fact that they showcase these stories really

shows that Kitea is a trusted and valuable tool

for many people.

Definitely adds a lot of credibility.

Now, just before we wrap up this part of our deep dive,

there's one quick pronunciation question I saw mentioned.

How do you actually say Kitea?

Oh, that's a good one to clarify.

Yeah.

Kitea is pronounced toti.

OK.

So think GT, with a hard G sound, like in gift.

GT.

Got it.

OK, so to bring it all together, our deep dive into Kitea

shows us.

Well, it shows us that Kitea offers a surprisingly

accessible yet powerful way to manage your software

development projects in a self-hosted environment.

It seems particularly appealing if you're looking for more

control over your data and a smoother entry

into the world of Git and collaborative development.

Yeah, and for those who are newer to these concepts,

the ease of getting started, especially with that Kitea

cloud you mentioned, along with the clear documentation

and that helpful community, those seem like big advantages.

Definitely.

So here's the final thought for you to consider.

With the increasing focus on controlling

your own digital footprint and the growing

need to collaborate effectively on projects,

could a self-hosted solution like Kitea

actually provide you with more ownership

and a deeper understanding of your own projects and data?

That's a good question.

We encourage you to explore the links we've mentioned

and the resources available on the Kitea website.

Absolutely.

It's about empowering yourself with knowledge and control

over your digital workflows.

Very well said.

Thanks for joining us for this deep dive.

And a big thank you again to our supporter, SafeServer,

who, as we mentioned, provides the hosting infrastructure

that makes software like Kitea possible.

And they support your digital sovereignty.

You can find more information about their services

Until our next deep dive.

Until our next deep dive.