Why we put files on Gitlab

We typically use Part Libraries on the wiki, which allows us to use Galleries, Visual Version History, and version history righ in the wiki. This allows for easier organization and visual representation - manageable by basic wiki editors.

But, we limit file size to 1 MB on the wiki, so large scale collaboration does not crash our servers. CAD files are typically much larger than software code - so we need to keep files to a manageable size if thousands of people are to collaborate actively on the wiki. To manage the 1 MB limit - we can break up larger assemblies into parts, or just use Gitlab for larger files. If we break up files into parts, they can simply be merged into a larger whole in FreeCAD. This is a way to manage large files while retaining the 1 MB limit. Special users can override the 1 MB limit, but that is a privilege granted to only a few people.

Git requires more sophistication on the part of the user - so we recommend that only for power users in order to allow larger numbers to participate without going through extensive learning curves. OSE is testing the limits of large scale collaboration - so this requires that we keep the tools as simple as possible. We are still pursuing world-class results - via Public Engineering - but we want to use tools that are as easy to learn as possible.