[Xymon] Project direction and next steps – GitHub migration and branch model

Hi All,

Below is a structured summary of the current status following recent discussions and actions around the Xymon project, together with proposed next steps. Feedback from everyone is explicitly requested.

PEOPLE – ROLES AND SKILLS (inferred from the latest email exchanges only; non-exhaustive and not limiting)

• Bruno Manzoni – coordination; project management, workflow organization

• Nicola – contributor; development support, automation

• Stef Coene – contributor; development support, testing

• Scot Kreienkamp – contributor; build and release automation

• Ralph Mitchell – contributor; build and platform support

• Mark Felder – contributor; technical guidance, system-level development

• Matthew Goebel – contributor; platform support

• Jeremy Laidman – contributor; deployment and lifecycle support

• Kris Springer – contributor; interface customization

• All listed participants have been invited and currently have owner access to the repository.

GLOBAL SUMMARY – WHAT IS PROPOSED

• Migrate source control from SVN/SourceForge to GitHub as the primary workflow.
• Establish a clean, shared Git workflow with clear governance.
• Treat 4.3 as the stable production line; keep 4.4 experimental.
• Incorporate pending patches and publish a new 4.3.x release.
• Enable GitHub Actions for tagging, releases, and CI/CD.
• Improve packaging pipelines (RPM, tarballs, possibly DEB) while preserving existing ecosystems.
• Address technical debt (PCRE2 migration, build warnings, compatibility issues).
• Modernize networking and encryption incrementally (libcurl, HTTPS reporting).
• Improve testing, documentation, and UI without breaking Xymon identity.

PROJECT CONTEXT – RELEVANT CONSTRAINTS AND DEPENDENCIES

• Existing packaging and repositories (e.g. Terabithia) are part of current production deployments and must be preserved or transitioned carefully.
• Development momentum depends on early establishment of:
• a source repository
• a CI/build pipeline
• a lightweight review and decision process
• Multiple pending patches and enhancements are already available and can be integrated early to deliver visible progress.

STEPS COMPLETED

• Archived the historical repository xymon-svn-mirror to preserve the full SVN lineage as a read-only reference.
• Created a new active Git repository xymon under xymon-monitoring, cloned from xymon-svn-mirror with full history intact.
• Set main to track the stable 4.3.x line (anchored at Release 4.3.30).
• Kept 4.x-master as the ongoing development branch for 4.4.
• Changed the default branch to main to align with production usage.

FEEDBACK AND INITIATIVES REQUESTED

• Does the current branch model (main = 4.3.x stable, 4.x-master = 4.4 development) make sense?
• Are there objections or improvements to the proposed Git workflow and governance?
• What should be prioritized next: patch integration, CI/CD setup, packaging, testing, or documentation?
• If you would like to take initiative, feel free to: - pick any area that interests you, - propose or start any concrete action (issue, patch, CI setup, documentation, release work, experimentation, etc.), - work independently or coordinate with others, as you prefer.
• Opening issues, suggesting plans, or submitting early or draft PRs is explicitly encouraged.
• Short replies and concrete input are perfectly fine.

Thanks, Bruno