Within the software development, it is important to use tools that allow multiple programmers to cooperate efficiently. Key benefits include project management, version control, change tracking, and simplified ways of collaborating. The reference point is GitHub which, in addition to streamlining the management of software projects, helps maintain a log of changes made to the code, allows multiple developers to cooperate simultaneously, facilitates source revision, allows tracking and solving bugs with a well-organized approach and looks to the concept of continuous integrationin order to automate the build and test processes, ensuring faster and more reliable software distribution.
The result of 4 years of development by a team of 12 people, Radicle presents itself as alternative to GitHub open source and peer-to-peer (P2P). But what does P2P have to do with software development? We will try to explain it below.
Software development becomes decentralized with Radicle, an alternative to GitHub
Moving away from the pattern historically adopted by GitHub, Radicle is a project that aims to revolutionize the way developers cooperate. The platform, presented in these pages, is based on a rete peer-to-peer which eliminates any intermediary and allows users to rely on a resilient architecture, in turn based on the autonomy of individual subjects.
Radicle takes one approach, however local-first: this means that its features are always available even without Internet access. Users always remain the owners of their data, always being able to migrate and “backup” their data, both online and offline.
Unlike file sharing applications like BitTorrent, Radicle allows users to select which ones repository host according to granular policies. This gives you the ability to easily block any unwanted content or configure nodes to host only explicitly permitted content.
Although Radicle is itself based on Gitpotentially capable of hosting and replicating any type of content, the platform is not suitable for managing large files in binary format.
Why bother creating a clone the GitHub when there is already the well-known platform, owned by Microsoft, that allows you to share and manage Git repositories? Because, as the creator of Radicle explains, “we do not want to use a proprietary platform, controlled by third parties. It is not desirable for a third party to manage personal material (…) independently determining whether and how it is appropriate or not“.
Security via public key cryptography
The authenticity and authoritativeness of all data stored in Radicle is intrinsically ensured, thanks to the use of asymmetric encryption (public key cryptography). This way users can take advantage of a safe environment and unalterable by their collaborative efforts.
The advantage of Radicle is that the platform assigns unique and “stable” IDs to repositories, allowing local validation operations and freeing itself from the traditional client-server model.
The Radicle repository is the core of the collaboration between programmers: forms the basis for working seamlessly, since each repository is replicated throughout the decentralized network.
And “gossip protocol” is a type of distributed communication protocol used in P2P networks for efficiently disseminating information between nodes. Radicle uses just such a mechanism, facilitating the exchange of metadata between nodes and identifying repositories via public keys. Nodes disseminate repository information to build routing tables that facilitate discovery (discovery) and the replication of the contents of the repositories.
How to try Radicle on Linux and macOS
At the moment the goal of the Radicle developers is to focus on Linux and macOS systems: a Windows version could also be released in the future, even if it is not yet officially in the pipeline.
Per try Radicle and install the collaborative software development platform, simply issue the following command in the terminal window:
curl -sSf https://radicle.xyz/install | sh
By eliminating the middlemen, Radicle ensures an environment resistant to censorship and gives users complete control over code-level collaboration activities.
Opening image credit: iStock.com – Jay Yuno