Release v2.1.x: Penguin-DAL migration, centralized libs, and test suite overhaul

[PenguinzTech]

This pull request merges the v2.1.x branch into main, representing a significant modernization and consolidation of the Squawk codebase.

Key Changes

1. Architectural Consolidation

• Centralized Libraries: Removed vendored libraries in favor of centralized .
• Penguin-DAL Migration: Migrated and from PyDAL to , including new SQLAlchemy schemas and Alembic migrations.
• Service Consolidation: Removed separate and components, integrating DHCP and Time (NTP/PTP) services directly across components.

2. Frontend Modernization

• React WebUI: Converted the Flask web console to an API-only backend with a modern React-based WebUI ().
• Dependency Hardening: Pinned and dependencies to exact versions and immutable SHA references.
• Component Integration: Integrated (LoginPageBuilder, SidebarMenu, AppConsoleVersion) into the frontend applications.

3. Testing & Quality Assurance

• Comprehensive Test Suite: Added a new directory with E2E (Playwright), Integration, Load, and Smoke tests.
• Coverage Improvements: Achieved 100% coverage for key frontend components (Login, Sidebar) and improved Python test coverage for backend services.
• CI/CD Hardening: Updated GitHub Actions workflows with security scanning (Trivy), dependency monitoring, and standardized build processes.

4. Infrastructure & Deployment

• Standardized K8s: Added standardized Kubernetes deployment configurations and deployment scripts (, ).
• Security Fixes: Resolved high-severity vulnerabilities in Next.js and other dependencies.

5. Documentation & Standards

• Unified Documentation: Massive overhaul of and project-wide documentation to meet new base standards.
• Standardized Templates: Added GitHub issue templates for bugs, features, and security reports.