cgit - cgi for git


This is an attempt to create a fast web interface for the git scm, using a
builtin cache to decrease server io-pressure.


Installation

  $ make gitsrc=<path>
  $ su
  $ make prefix=<path> install


Default value for gitsrc is "../git", and this directory should contain the
git sources.

Default value for prefix is "/var/www/htdocs/cgit". This directory will 
contain "cgit.cgi" and "cgit.css" after 'make install'.

After installation, httpd.conf probably must be updated with a Directory-
section for cgit, possibly something like this:

  <Directory "/var/www/htdocs/cgit/">
      AllowOverride None
      Options ExecCGI
      Order allow,deny
      Allow from all
  </Directory>


Runtime configuration

The file /etc/cgitrc is read by cgit before handling a request. In addition
to runtime parameters, this file also contains a list of the repositories 
displayed by cgit.

A template cgitrc is shipped with the sources, and all parameters and default
values are documented in this file. 


The cache

When cgit is invoked it looks for a cachefile matching the request and 
returns it to the client. If no such cachefile exist (or if it has expired), 
the content for the request is written into the proper cachefile before the
file is returned.

If the cachefile has expired but cgit is unable to obtain a lock for it, the 
stale cachefile is returned to the client. This is done to favour page
throughput over page freshness.

The generated content contains the complete response to the client, including
the http-headers "Modified" and "Expires".