> On 20 Jul 2026, at 14:19, Branko Čibej <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 20. 7. 2026 14:01, Timofei Zhakov wrote: >> On Tue, Jul 14, 2026 at 2:52 PM C. Michael Pilato <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> On Tue, Jul 14, 2026 at 5:14 AM Thomas Åkesson <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> I was unable to find any discussion on this deprecation of XSLT in the >>>> browsers. >>>> >>>> https://developer.chrome.com/docs/web-platform/deprecating-xslt >>>> >>>> I suspect this deprecation will break the Subversion web ui (folder >>>> listing and Collection of Repositories) and the customization point for >>>> these UIs (SVNIndexXSLT). >>>> >>>> We use this XSLT extensively so I am interested if anyone has experimented >>>> with server-side transformation? >>> >>> This is unfortunate, but hopefully the situation isn't quite as bad as you >>> might think. >>> >>> IIRC, the XSLT variant of the mod_dav_svn directory listing feature is >>> entirely optional. When a GET request arrives aimed at a versioned >>> directory, if SVNIndexXSLT is set, an XML response referencing the template >>> is generated; but otherwise, an HTML response is still generated. So this >>> deprecation might force admins to turn off the SVNIndexXSLT "flavor", >>> resulting in some ... undecorated directory listings. But at least I >>> expect the listings will still "work" (for the most basic of definitions of >>> "work"). >>> >>> It does cause me to wonder though... Would a SVNIndexCSS feature be >>> interesting -- where we generate that HTML with quite a bit more structure >>> (divs, ids, etc.) and allow folks to point to a CSS file that at least >>> pretties it up? >>> >> >> Just to throw it in: I think a built-in reasonably usable web interface >> would probably be the most wanted feature that we can do in today's reality >> of Subversion. > > > I think it would not, it's bad idea and horrible waste of time. Just thinking > of the authn/authz/security aspect of such a web interface makes me shudder. > Subversion hosting services exist, with much better user interfaces than we > could ever hack up given the resources we have. If you're thinking of some > kind of server-side-generated interactive web UI written in C ... yeah, just > no. People who want something lightweight can use ViewVC or maybe Trac. > > The XSLT support happened at a time when there were few alternatives, and > some of us (i.e., me) thought it would be a nifty idea. I'm still embarrassed > by it. Just thinking of the wasted lines of code for something probably > no-one uses, ouch.
I hope I can lighten up your view of this extension point. We, Simonsoft, have during the last 18 years successfully relied on this mechanism to serve our UI from the true subversion URL. Given that it has worked reliably for more than 2 decades with very little maintenance… not too bad. I do agree that producing a great web UI is not a priority for the core Subversion project. But providing compelling extension points is important to enable others, open-source or commercial. We are very grateful for the XSLT extension point but it's time to find a new approach. Thanks, Thomas
