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We built a library (SDK) for iOS. The source code of the library is closed (proprietary). The output we want to release is iOS frameworks, API documentation, setup guide, license file but NO source code.

We are discussing differant ways to release it to public.

1) One way is to create a public git repository hosted in Github and push all the output in it.

2) Other way is to host these files in our own server.

Is there any benefit of hosting it on github over hosting it on our own servers? I know git is to manage source files but in this case there is no source file that we want to publish, it is just the output. Is there any general rule to release iOS close source SDKs?

I am inclined more towards hosting the SDK (as zips) in our own server. I believe it is always the latest SDK you market in your website and not the older SDK.

msk
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1 Answers1

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Is there any benefit of hosting it on github over hosting it on our own servers?

The main benefit is cooperation/feedback: on GitHub, people can fork your repo and send back pull request.

If you choose that publication option, I would maintain a parent repo with two submodules:

  • one for the proprietary code
  • one for the public code.

You can push the former on a dedicated private server.
You can push the latter on GitHub.

Using separate Git repos (here as submodules) minimizes the risk to push the wrong data to the wrong upstream repo.

That proposition is for text files only though.

Using Release (as in this question mentioned by the OP msk) isn't a good way to distribute deliveries, because the repo would be empty (no code, since it is proprietary), and would only contain deliveries (not necessarily executables).

Release in GitHub is done to associate deliveries to codes (through tags), and cannot accommodate any binary of any size.

In the Op's case, distributing deliveries should be done through another referential (typically a Nexus one, meaning an artifact repository, without size limit)

Community
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VonC
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  • I have not seen any non source code SDKs in github. Just came to know about [Releases](https://help.github.com/articles/about-releases) is this what is recommended by Github for this and not repository? We actively work on source code (a private git repo) and only once in 2-3 months we release it to public. So is your approach fine here as well (before I explore more) – msk Apr 26 '14 at 10:43
  • @msk as long as we are talking about *text* files, a repo is fine (even if updated only infrequently). Using release is only when you associate a delivery to a code source. Here you would have a release on top of an empty repo, that would be odd. – VonC Apr 26 '14 at 10:45
  • [See this SO question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13900940/what-is-the-best-way-to-distribute-a-binary-of-my-project-on-github?rq=1) My output is not text files but iOS frameworks + documentation files (HTML), setup guide (pdf) etc. I am not clear what you are suggesting now? – msk Apr 26 '14 at 10:49
  • Yes these are binaries (.a format). Generated by compiling objective C code. – msk Apr 26 '14 at 10:51
  • Ok, I have edited my answer: deliveries of this kind are better distributed through another kind of repo. GitHub isn't well-suited for that. – VonC Apr 26 '14 at 10:54
  • let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/51484/discussion-between-msk-and-vonc) – msk Apr 26 '14 at 10:55