Browsing local repositories with Dolt

As part of rebuilding parts of the Gitorious UI, we’re building the new code browser as a standalone tool. This means all sorts of cool things. It makes the Gitorious project easier to maintain and develop, as it will be modularized and those modules will help us avoid too tight couplings. It also means that our new repo browser can easily be used locally on your machine.

Installing dolt

Dolt is the name of the new repository browser. Note: It’s very early stage at this point, but basic functionality is in place, so I wanted to share with you guys. To install it you need Ruby and Python development files.

With apt (Debian/Ubuntu etc)

If you don’t already have Ruby, start with `sudo apt-get install ruby`. Then get the Python development files: `sudo apt-get install python-dev`. Finally, install dolt: `gem install dolt`.

With yum (Fedora/CentOS/RedHat etc)

If you don’t already have Ruby, start with `sudo yum install ruby`. Then get the Python development files: `sudo yum install python-devel`. Finally, install dolt: `gem install dolt`.

Take Dolt for a spin

Now you can use Dolt to preview our upcoming code browser with a local repository: `dolt /home/christian/projects/gitorious`. If you’re already in the directory where your Git repo lives, do `dolt .`.

Work in progress

Note that a lot of stuff is missing, and some links in the app do not work. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear what you think. Also, if you stumble upon some installation problems, let me know.