virtual repo docs

README.md

@@ -1,91 +1,34 @@
-# [GitHub Desktop](https://desktop.github.com)
+# [GitHub Desktop -- Virtual Repos](https://desktop.github.com)
 
-GitHub Desktop is an open source [Electron](https://www.electronjs.org/)-based
-GitHub app. It is written in [TypeScript](http://www.typescriptlang.org) and
-uses [React](https://reactjs.org/).
+[GitHub Desktop](https://github.com/desktop/desktop) fork with experimental support for "virtual repos".
 
-![GitHub Desktop screenshot - Windows](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/359239/26094502/a1f56d02-3a5d-11e7-8799-23c7ba5e5106.png)
+## Virtual Repos???
 
-## Where can I get it?
+Virtual repos tries to capture the idea of a git repository that exists on an external filesystem.
 
-Download the official installer for your operating system:
+This could be used when:
 
- - [macOS](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/darwin)
- - [macOS (Apple Silicon)](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/darwin-arm64)
- - [Windows](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/win32)
- - [Windows machine-wide install](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/win32?format=msi)
+* Editing code over an SSH connection
+* Using GitHub Codespaces
 
-You can install this alongside your existing GitHub Desktop for Mac or GitHub
-Desktop for Windows application.
+There are some pretty strong requirements for this to work, however. The most important being this only
+implements the client side of the virtual repos, and the
+[server side](https://github.com/bradshjg/gh-desktop-virtual-repo-server) (also available as a
+[VS code extension](https://github.com/bradshjg/gh-desktop-virtual-repo-server-extension)) must be running on the
+remote server (and the port `localhost:9195` must be resolve to that remove server...which can be a lot).
 
-**NOTE**: there is no current migration path to import your existing
-repositories into the new application - you can drag-and-drop your repositories
-from disk onto the application to get started.
+For example, to get this working over an SSH connection we'd need:
 
-### Beta Channel
+* A Node runtime on the remote server, and the server process running.
+* A tunnel from `localhost:9195` to that remote Node process (e.g. using an SSH tunnel)
 
-Want to test out new features and get fixes before everyone else? Install the
-beta channel to get access to early builds of Desktop:
+In GitHub Codespaces, it's _slightly_ simplified:
 
- - [macOS](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/darwin?env=beta)
- - [macOS (Apple Silicon)](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/darwin-arm64?env=beta)
- - [Windows](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/win32?env=beta)
- - [Windows (ARM64)](https://central.github.com/deployments/desktop/desktop/latest/win32-arm64?env=beta)
-
-The release notes for the latest beta versions are available [here](https://desktop.github.com/release-notes/?env=beta).
+* Install the [extension](https://github.com/bradshjg/gh-desktop-virtual-repo-server-extension) and then run
+  "GitHub Desktop: Start virtual repo server" which will launch the process and set up port forwarding.
 
-### Community Releases
-
-There are several community-supported package managers that can be used to
-install GitHub Desktop:
- - Windows users can install using [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/) package manager:
-      `c:\> choco install github-desktop`
- - macOS users can install using [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) package manager:
-      `$ brew install --cask github`
-
-Installers for various Linux distributions can be found on the
-[`shiftkey/desktop`](https://github.com/shiftkey/desktop) fork.
-
-Arch Linux users can install the latest version from the
-[AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/github-desktop-bin/).
-
-## Is GitHub Desktop right for me? What are the primary areas of focus?
-
-[This document](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/blob/development/docs/process/what-is-desktop.md) describes the focus of GitHub Desktop and who the product is most useful for.
-
-And to see what the team is working on currently and in the near future, check out the [GitHub Desktop roadmap](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/blob/development/docs/process/roadmap.md).
-
-## I have a problem with GitHub Desktop
-
-Note: The [GitHub Desktop Code of Conduct](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/blob/development/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) applies in all interactions relating to the GitHub Desktop project.
-
-First, please search the [open issues](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/issues?q=is%3Aopen)
-and [closed issues](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/issues?q=is%3Aclosed)
-to see if your issue hasn't already been reported (it may also be fixed).
-
-There is also a list of [known issues](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/blob/development/docs/known-issues.md)
-that are being tracked against Desktop, and some of these issues have workarounds.
-
-If you can't find an issue that matches what you're seeing, open a [new issue](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/issues/new/choose),
-choose the right template and provide us with enough information to investigate
-further.
-
-## The issue I reported isn't fixed yet. What can I do?
-
-If nobody has responded to your issue in a few days, you're welcome to respond to it with a friendly ping in the issue. Please do not respond more than a second time if nobody has responded. The GitHub Desktop maintainers are constrained in time and resources, and diagnosing individual configurations can be difficult and time consuming. While we'll try to at least get you pointed in the right direction, we can't guarantee we'll be able to dig too deeply into any one person's issue.
-
-## How can I contribute to GitHub Desktop?
-
-The [CONTRIBUTING.md](./.github/CONTRIBUTING.md) document will help you get setup and
-familiar with the source. The [documentation](docs/) folder also contains more
-resources relevant to the project.
-
-If you're looking for something to work on, check out the [help wanted](https://github.com/desktop/desktop/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22help%20wanted%22) label.
-
-## More Resources
-
-See [desktop.github.com](https://desktop.github.com) for more product-oriented
-information about GitHub Desktop.
+The interface for adding a virtual repo is to use the path to the git repository on the remote file system. For
+example if I'm working in a GitHub Codespace it might be something like `/workspaces/my-repo`.
 
 ## License