Added first Hilde devlog

config.yaml

@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ params:
         showTags: true
 
         custom:
+            - title: "Devlogs"
+              url: "/devlogs"
             - title: "Projects"
               url: "https://git.roosens.me/Chewing_Bever"
             - title: "Source"

content/devlogs/_index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+This category contains devlogs for my various projects:
+
+* [Hilde](hilde): an implementation of a Debian repository using Rust & the
+  Rocket API framework.

content/devlogs/hilde/_index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Hilde is a "smart" implementation of a Debian repository that aims to be more
+than just a file server.

content/devlogs/hilde/the-idea.md

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+---
+title: "Hilde - The Idea"
+date: "2021-06-26"
+tags: [ 'rust', 'api', 'linux' ]
+---
+
+Welcome to the first devlog about Hilde, my latest passion project. This post
+will be diving into what exactly Hilde is, and what I currently have planned
+for the project.
+
+## The idea
+
+My idea behind Hilde is to create a smarter & more modern version of a Debian
+repository. Currently, a repository simply consists of a file server (e.g.
+Apache for the official repositories) that serves a strict directory structure.
+Lots of the files & data stored in this system could however be perfectly
+stored inside a database. Therefore, I'd like to take a different approach.
+Instead of just using a file server, my plan is to "mimic" the official
+structure of the file server, while serving as much content as possible from a
+database. Control file data, file hashes, indexes, and many other types of
+metadata could just be indexed and returned when requested.
+
+I initially thought of this while brainstorming about which distro I should
+switch to. I've been running Arch on my laptops for about a year now, but I've
+come to distrust it (partially because I don't use it safely enough probably).
+As I'm a CS student, I require a stable computer that I can rely on when
+needed. Therefore, I'd like to switch to Debian. I would however like to keep
+the luxury of the AUR or something similar, so my idea was to host my own Hilde
+server that could serve this purpose.
+
+## Roadmap
+
+I have a broad idea of which features I would like to add to Hilde (if
+possible):
+
+### Mimic a Debian repository
+
+The first part is pretty self-explanatory. Before I can do anything else, I
+need to make sure the idea is possible, so I'll have to make a proof of concept
+that works. My end goal is to have Hilde be the most compliant server possible,
+by which I mean that it supports every feature that a Debian repository could
+support. This includes:
+
+* Arbitrarily nested dists & components
+* Support for multiple architectures
+* Support for `by-hash` directories
+* ...
+
+A full description of the Debian repository format can be found
+[here](https://wiki.debian.org/DebianRepository/Format). Not all features are
+required for the initial release, but eventually I would like to comply with
+the entire document. The initial release will also contain a folder scanner, so
+that existing packages can be added on startup.
+
+### Allowing for package uploads
+
+The second part of my "AUR" idea requires me to be able to add new packages to
+the server (e.g. from a CI pipeline). Therefore, I want to be able to send HTTP
+requests to the server to upload new binary or source packages. I don't have a
+full grasp yet on how I plan to achieve this (e.g. what endpoints etc.) but the
+basic idea is to be able to upload deb files to the server and it automatically
+parsing them.
+
+### Authentification
+
+We can't just open up a server that allows uploads to the public, so I'll have
+to add a form of authentification. I'm still debating on exactly how I plan on
+doing this, but the basic idea is to use JWT tokens & a login endpoint that can
+generate said tokens. Initially, I'll probably just use a single admin account,
+but I have ideas for adding a user system that can generate tokens for specific
+actions on specific packages (e.g. a token that allows for writing to a
+particular package).
+
+### Federation
+
+This one is one of my more ambitious ideas, but it sounds really interesting to
+work on. I have this idea of a network of Hilde servers communicating with each
+other about which packages they have. When a user then requests a certain
+package, the server can forward the package from another server.
+
+I know this idea might be quite impossible for me, and it's still far down the
+road, but it just sounded way too cool to not include it in this introduction
+devlog.
+
+## Conclusion
+
+In my eyes, Hilde looks like a very interesting & fun project to work on, and I
+hope to be posting a lot more of these devlogs as development progresses!
+Speaking of development, the Git repo can be found
+[here](https://git.roosens.me/Chewing_Bever/hilde). See you next time!