Re: The health of gitk, was Re: [PATCH] gitk: check main window visibility before waiting for it to show

On Wed, Nov 13, 2024 at 08:41:42AM +0100, Johannes Schindelin wrote:

Hi Hannes,

I would like to offer this thread as Exhibit A in support for the case I
started making at [GitMerge '24](https://git-merge.com/) to convince you
to consider maintaining gitk in addition to Git GUI.

Having one maintainer of Git GUI and gitk would make for a quite natural
fit, I would think, as both are written in Tcl/Tk, neither is used by the
core Git contributors because they are GUI programs, both lower the bar
for new Git users because they are GUI programs, and either would be
subject for eviction from git/git unless maintained by an active
volunteer.

From what I see, Git GUI is in real good hands since you took over, I see
reports and patches picked up quickly and the style of your replies is
refreshingly constructive and friendly.

This morning, I woke up to find a new PR in microsoft/git
(https://github.com/microsoft/git/issues/704) that cherry-picks the patch
that was offered in this here mail list thread. That patch is almost four
years old, i.e. just about ready to enter pre-school and to learn how to
read and write. Yet apart from Beat's confirmation that it fixes a real
bug, this here patch has been treated with silence.

Unfortunately, the original GitGitGadget PR had to be locked down and
therefore Tobias would not be able to send another iteration even if he
wanted to (which I doubt, given the experience on this mailing list).

Therefore I see the need not only to revive this thread, but also to look
for an active gitk maintainer.

May I ask you, now in public, whether you would be potentially open to
maintain gitk in addition to Git GUI? If so, I would then start a proper
new thread to nominate you officially.

If Hannes is willing to take this on, I would support that fully and I
would also be happy to assist.  I know I was extremely slack about
gitk patches for a long while, but I think I have a little more free
time now, having retired.

There is another issue which will need to be sorted out, which is
whether to persist with a separate tree that gets merged into the git
repository, or just edit the copy of gitk in the git repository.
There have been tree-wide patches applied to the git tree which
affected gitk, meaning that my gitk repository is now out of sync.
I recently (as in several weeks ago) sent Junio Hamano an email asking
this question, and asking for his opinion on the best way to proceed
with gitk patches, but got no reply.

Paul.