May 2016 Summaries

CodeConf LA is an event dedicated to the open source community, focusing on systems engineering projects and practices. Scheduled to take place over three days in Los Angeles, it includes workshops on topics such as Innersource and Git internals, along with over 25 sessions featuring speakers from organizations like Mozilla, the US Department of Commerce, and IBM. Notable speakers include Michael Bernstein, Josh Aas, Nadia Eghbal, Kelsey Hightower, and Mitchell Hashimoto. The conference will be held at the historic Avalon Hollywood, with nearby accommodation available at the W Hollywood. Attendees can also look forward to an afterparty at Hyde Sunset Kitchen, featuring pub trivia and desserts by Chef Chris Crary. Tickets are priced at $399, providing access to all sessions and the afterparty.

On May 11 in Amsterdam, GitHub Satellite gathered over 500 developers to discuss open source, enterprise software, and engineering best practices, highlighted by GitHub CEO Chris Wanstrath's presentation of new developments, including the introduction of unlimited private repositories for all paid plans and the release of Electron 1.0, which enhances API stability and allows for the creation of native-feeling apps across multiple operating systems. The event was supported by sponsors like IBM, Heroku, and Travis-CI, who contributed to the experience with food, drinks, and art installations. GitHub Satellite's sessions will be available online, and the GitHub Universe Conference is set to return to San Francisco's Pier 70 on September 14-15.

GitHub now supports the assignment of up to 10 people to a single issue or pull request, allowing for greater collaboration and task distribution. This feature is accessible through the web UI, where users can add or remove assignees via a dropdown menu in the sidebar. For further details, users are encouraged to consult the documentation. The update was announced by Ayman Nadeem.

A collaborative event hosted by GitHub and Grumpy Gits, called Patchwork, is scheduled for June 25 in Singapore, aimed at beginners interested in learning Git and GitHub, as well as mentors eager to assist newcomers. This informal, hands-on workshop offers modules like Introduction to Git, Introduction to GitHub, and Creating a Site with GitHub Pages, requiring no prior coding experience. Participants will have the opportunity to learn at their own pace with support from community mentors, and by the end of the session, newcomers will gain practical experience with a merged pull request and contributions to the open-source community. The event promises a relaxed atmosphere with food and refreshments provided, and attendees need to RSVP and have a GitHub account set up in advance. The venue is accessible, ensuring inclusivity, and any food allergies should be communicated during registration.

GitHub has introduced a new feature that allows users to reorder checklist items effortlessly through a drag-and-drop interface, enhancing the organization of task lists without needing to edit the original Markdown text. By creating a task list with "- [ ]" at the beginning of a line, users can easily rearrange items by hovering over the checkbox and dragging the item to a new position. This improvement simplifies the process of organizing tasks and is documented further in GitHub's resources, with the feature being highlighted by Ayman Nadeem.

GitHub is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, recognizing that varied perspectives enhance software development. Over the past 18 months, GitHub has focused on improving diversity and inclusion, releasing its diversity data for the first time to track progress and identify areas needing improvement. Since 2014, the representation of women and women of color at GitHub has increased significantly, though challenges remain, such as the absence of Black/African-American employees in management and gender imbalances in technical roles. The company is enhancing its recruitment processes, expanding benefits like transgender health care and fertility treatments, and modifying its San Francisco office for greater accessibility. By partnering with organizations like EveryoneOn and CODE2040, GitHub aims to remove barriers to entry in tech and create opportunities for diverse talent, emphasizing that diversity is a lifelong journey rather than a short-term project.

GitHub Pages has upgraded to Jekyll 3.1.6, bringing significant performance improvements by using Liquid::Drops instead of Ruby Hashes for on-demand metadata calculation, which should be seamless for most users but requires local testing with the GitHub Pages Gem to ensure site builds as expected. Key changes include accessing front matter in layouts through {{ layout }}, with proper merging of child and parent layout values, such as layout.color reflecting child-defined values. Users of the Jekyll Bootstrap theme need to update _includes/JB/setup for compatibility. Jekyll 3.1.6 introduces over 100 changes, including bug fixes and enhancements to rendering and previewing, with detailed changes available in the Jekyll changelog.

GitHub has introduced a new feature requiring repository administrators to send invitations that must be accepted before a user can collaborate on a repository, enhancing control over collaboration. This change addresses previous issues where developers could be added to repositories without their explicit consent, which sometimes led to harassment through invitations to inappropriate or unwanted repositories. By allowing users to accept or decline invitations, and block those who send offensive ones, GitHub aims to foster more positive and respectful interactions within its community. This update represents a significant step forward in improving user experience and community standards on the platform.

Patchwork is organizing a beginner-friendly event in Toronto on June 16, aimed at teaching Git and GitHub, co-hosted with Rangle.io. The event welcomes both newcomers eager to learn and experienced mentors willing to guide others, with no prior coding experience required. Participants can choose from various learning modules, such as Introduction to Git and GitHub or Creating a Site with GitHub Pages, in a casual, hands-on workshop setting, where the pace is self-directed, and community mentors are available for assistance. Attendees will have the opportunity to make new friends, enjoy snacks, and gain practical experience by leaving with a merged pull request and increased confidence to engage with the open-source community. The event will be held at Rangle.io in Toronto, with food and refreshments provided, and is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

GitHub has introduced a new feature that allows users to include anonymized contributions from private repositories in their contribution graphs, providing a more comprehensive representation of their work while maintaining privacy. Users can enable this feature through their profile settings, ensuring that only collaborators can view specific details of contributions made to private repositories. This update simplifies the interface by removing code streaks, highlighting the quality of work over the duration of activity. With all paid plans now offering unlimited private repositories, users can freely experiment in private while still contributing to their graph. The update aims to celebrate both public and private open-source work, as explained by Sarah Vessels, a Staff Software Engineer at GitHub.

Migrating private repositories to GitHub Enterprise is streamlined through the use of the ghe-migrator tool, which has successfully assisted over 120 organizations in moving more than 2,500 repositories in the past nine months. This tool simplifies the migration process by including essential GitHub data such as issues, pull requests, and user information, which are not transferred through manual cloning. To use ghe-migrator, GitHub Enterprise version 2.3 or higher is required, along with additional servers for backup and dry run purposes. A crucial part of the migration involves creating username mappings and resolving potential conflicts using CSV files, ensuring a smooth transition. The migration process involves exporting repositories from GitHub.com, preparing them for import into GitHub Enterprise, and auditing the results to address any issues. Once the migration is complete, repositories are unlocked for user access, and further assistance is available from GitHub Professional Services if needed.

GitHub has announced that all of its paid plans now include unlimited private repositories, offering a simplified pricing structure for both individuals and organizations. The personal plan is priced at $7 per month, while organization plans are $9 per user per month with a minimum charge of $25 for the first five users. This change means that users can create as many private repositories as needed without additional costs, enhancing flexibility and collaboration. Existing users will be automatically transitioned to the new plans, and those with larger plans will receive prorated credits. Organizations have the option to upgrade to unlimited private repositories at their convenience, though existing plans can still be maintained. GitHub emphasizes this model as a way to foster better workflow and encourages users to take advantage of the new structure without immediate pressure to switch plans, committing to a 12-month notice period before enforcing any mandatory changes.

Electron has significantly simplified the development of desktop applications by enabling developers to create cross-platform apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The release of Electron 1.0 marks a significant milestone, offering improved API stability and usability along with the introduction of Electron API Demos, a new app designed to facilitate learning about Electron APIs. In the past year alone, Electron has achieved 1.2 million downloads and has fostered a robust community comprising hundreds of developers and companies who leverage the framework for diverse applications, ranging from email and chat apps to SQL analytics tools and robots. This release is the culmination of collective efforts from the community, and developers are encouraged to explore the possibilities of creating their own applications with the help of the quick start guide.

The Jekyll SEO Tag plugin simplifies the process of optimizing GitHub Pages for search engines and social media sharing by automatically adding essential metadata, such as titles, descriptions, and URLs, to each page. This ensures better indexing by search engines and rich displays on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Although users could manually add these metadata tags, the plugin offers a reliable template based on best practices, enhancing visibility alongside the Jekyll sitemap plugin. The post is authored by Ben Balter, GitHub's Chief of Staff for Security, who has an extensive background in managing GitHub's enterprise offerings and promoting open source adoption within government organizations.

GitHub Desktop on Windows has introduced a new dark theme option, enhancing its visual appeal as a complement to developer tools like Atom and Visual Studio. This feature can be accessed through the Options menu in GitHub Desktop, offering users an additional way to customize their interface. The update, penned by Markus Olsson, highlights the aesthetic integration of GitHub Desktop with other popular editor tools.

Patchwork is returning to Chicago on May 24 for an event co-hosted with Dev BootCamp, aimed at beginners eager to learn Git and GitHub, as well as mentors willing to assist others in their learning journey. This informal, self-directed workshop offers participants the chance to explore various modules such as Introduction to Git, Introduction to GitHub, and Creating a Site with GitHub Pages, all at their own pace with support from community mentors. The event promises a relaxed atmosphere with opportunities for socializing, and participants will leave with practical experience, including a merged pull request and increased confidence in engaging with the open-source community. Mentors are encouraged to share their expertise and contribute to the development of future open-source contributors. The event, scheduled from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at Dev BootCamp in Chicago, requires registration, and attendees are advised to create a GitHub account beforehand. Food and refreshments will be provided, and the venue is wheelchair-accessible.

GitHub is organizing meetups in Amsterdam and Paris coinciding with the GitHub Satellite event, offering opportunities for attendees to engage with GitHub staff and local communities. The Amsterdam meetup, hosted by the Atom and Electron teams, will take place at WeWork on 10 May, featuring talks on Electron and providing refreshments, while the Paris event, in collaboration with TheFamily and node.paris, is scheduled for 12 May at TheFamily, focusing on Atom and Electron with the possibility of previewing new features. Both events aim to foster community interaction and are free to attend, with attendees encouraged to RSVP in advance.

GitHub Pages is set to upgrade to Jekyll 3.1.4 on May 23rd, promising notable enhancements in build process performance, new Liquid filters, and minor bug fixes, with users advised to test complex sites locally with the latest Jekyll version before May 18th to ensure a smooth transition. The announcement, written by Ben Balter, outlines his role as Chief of Staff for Security at GitHub and details his extensive experience in managing GitHub's enterprise offerings, community management, and open-source adoption efforts within government organizations. Balter’s contributions have significantly advanced GitHub's platform security and community engagement, reflecting his deep commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for developers worldwide.

GitHub's Importer now allows users to import repositories from Subversion, Mercurial, and TFS that contain files larger than 100 MB, utilizing Git LFS to manage these large files. Users have the option to either use LFS to store large files or opt-out, which results in the removal of those files from the repository during the import process. Further information about the LFS feature and handling large files is available on GitHub's help site.

GitHub has officially discontinued support for the RDiscount, Redcarpet, and RedCloth (Textile) markup engines in favor of standardizing on the kramdown Markdown engine for GitHub Pages, facilitating a more streamlined publishing experience by reducing the complexity associated with multiple markdown interpretations. Users transitioning from these engines are encouraged to test their sites locally with kramdown before pushing changes, and those using GitHub Enterprise versions 2.7 and later will also be affected by this update. The change aims to align Markdown rendering more closely with GitHub.com standards, and support is available for users encountering issues during the transition. The announcement was made by Ben Balter, who has played a significant role in enhancing GitHub's platform security and community features, and who previously worked to promote open source adoption among government organizations worldwide.