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author | Stephen Leake <stephen_leake@stephe-leake.org> | 2014-12-05 13:13:55 -0600 |
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committer | Stephen Leake <stephen_leake@stephe-leake.org> | 2014-12-05 14:43:47 -0600 |
commit | 7409a79b1b2acf1229dd763f5eb7b96abc17113a (patch) | |
tree | 404c2c388df957f493cd257d7fddea4a2bfeaee2 /CONTRIBUTE | |
parent | 7d043d590d4fa7d702a7a12d437e90ec3b4fb069 (diff) | |
download | emacs-7409a79b1b2acf1229dd763f5eb7b96abc17113a.tar.gz |
preparing for further changes/cleanup to developers/contributors docs
* etc/CONTRIBUTE: renamed to ./CONTRIBUTE,
(my first commit to emacs trunk ever :)
Diffstat (limited to 'CONTRIBUTE')
-rw-r--r-- | CONTRIBUTE | 227 |
1 files changed, 227 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTE b/CONTRIBUTE new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..b07b6c66afe --- /dev/null +++ b/CONTRIBUTE @@ -0,0 +1,227 @@ +Copyright (C) 2006-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc. +See end for license conditions. + + + Contributing to Emacs + +Emacs is a collaborative project and we encourage contributions from +anyone and everyone. If you want to contribute in the way that will +help us most, we recommend (1) fixing reported bugs and (2) +implementing the feature ideas in etc/TODO. However, if you think of +new features to add, please suggest them too -- we might like your +idea. Porting to new platforms is also useful, when there is a new +platform, but that is not common nowadays. + +For documentation on how to develop Emacs changes, refer to the Emacs +Manual and the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual (both included in the Emacs +distribution). The web pages in http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs +contain additional information. + +You may also want to submit your change so that can be considered for +inclusion in a future version of Emacs (see below). + +If you don't feel up to hacking Emacs, there are many other ways to +help. You can answer questions on the mailing lists, write +documentation, find and report bugs, check if existing bug reports +are fixed in newer versions of Emacs, contribute to the Emacs web +pages, or develop a package that works with Emacs. + +Here are some style and legal conventions for contributors to Emacs: + + +* Coding Standards + +Contributed code should follow the GNU Coding Standards. + +If it doesn't, we'll need to find someone to fix the code before we +can use it. + +Emacs has certain additional style and coding conventions. + +Ref: http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/ +Ref: GNU Coding Standards Info Manual +Ref: The "Tips" Appendix in the Emacs Lisp Reference. + + +* Copyright Assignment + +The FSF (Free Software Foundation) is the copyright holder for GNU Emacs. +The FSF is a nonprofit with a worldwide mission to promote computer +user freedom and to defend the rights of all free software users. +For general information, see the website http://www.fsf.org/ . + +Generally speaking, for non-trivial contributions to GNU Emacs we +require that the copyright be assigned to the FSF. For the reasons +behind this, see: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html . + +Copyright assignment is a simple process. Residents of some countries +can do it entirely electronically. We can help you get started, and +answer any questions you may have (or point you to the people with the +answers), at the emacs-devel@gnu.org mailing list. + +(Please note: general discussion about why some GNU projects ask +for a copyright assignment is off-topic for emacs-devel. +See gnu-misc-discuss instead.) + +A copyright disclaimer is also a possibility, but we prefer an assignment. +Note that the disclaimer, like an assignment, involves you sending +signed paperwork to the FSF (simply saying "this is in the public domain" +is not enough). Also, a disclaimer cannot be applied to future work, it +has to be repeated each time you want to send something new. + +We can accept small changes (roughly, fewer than 15 lines) without +an assignment. This is a cumulative limit (e.g. three separate 5 line +patches) over all your contributions. + +* Getting the Source Code + +The latest version of the Emacs source code can be downloaded from the +Savannah web site. It is important to write your patch based on the +latest version. If you start from an older version, your patch may be +outdated (so that maintainers will have a hard time applying it), or +changes in Emacs may have made your patch unnecessary. + +After you have downloaded the repository source, you should read the file +INSTALL.REPO for build instructions (they differ to some extent from a +normal build). + +Ref: http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/emacs + + +* Submitting Patches + +Every patch must have several pieces of information before we +can properly evaluate it. + +When you have all these pieces, bundle them up in a mail message and +send it to the developers. Sending it to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org +(which is the bug/feature list) is recommended, because that list +is coupled to a tracking system that makes it easier to locate patches. +If your patch is not complete and you think it needs more discussion, +you might want to send it to emacs-devel@gnu.org instead. If you +revise your patch, send it as a followup to the initial topic. + +** Description + +For bug fixes, a description of the bug and how your patch fixes it. + +For new features, a description of the feature and your implementation. + +** ChangeLog + +A ChangeLog entry as plaintext (separate from the patch). + +See the existing ChangeLog files for format and content. Note that, +unlike some other projects, we do require ChangeLogs also for +documentation, i.e. Texinfo files. + +Ref: "Change Log Concepts" node of the GNU Coding Standards Info +Manual, for how to write good log entries. + +When using git, commit messages should use ChangeLog format, with a +single short line explaining the change, then an empty line, then +unindented ChangeLog entries. (Essentially, a commit message should +be a duplicate of what the patch adds to the ChangeLog files. We are +planning to automate this better, to avoid the duplication.) + +** The patch itself. + +If you are accessing the Emacs repository, make sure your copy is +up-to-date (e.g. with 'git pull'). You can commit your changes +to a private branch and generate a patch from the master version +by using + git format-patch master +Or you can leave your changes uncommitted and use + git diff +With no repository, you can use + diff -u OLD NEW + +** Mail format. + +We prefer to get the patches as plain text, either inline (be careful +your mail client does not change line breaks) or as MIME attachments. + +** Please reread your patch before submitting it. + +** Do not mix changes. + +If you send several unrelated changes together, we will ask you to +separate them so we can consider each of the changes by itself. + +** Do not make formatting changes. + +Making cosmetic formatting changes (indentation, etc) makes it harder +to see what you have really changed. + + +* Coding style and conventions. + +** Mandatory reading: + +The "Tips and Conventions" Appendix of the Emacs Lisp Reference. + +** Avoid using `defadvice' or `eval-after-load' for Lisp code to be +included in Emacs. + +** Remove all trailing whitespace in all source and text files. + +** Use ?\s instead of ? in Lisp code for a space character. + + +* Supplemental information for Emacs Developers. + +** Write access to the Emacs repository. + +Once you become a frequent contributor to Emacs, we can consider +giving you write access to the version-control repository. + + +** Emacs Mailing lists. + +Discussion about Emacs development takes place on emacs-devel@gnu.org. + +Bug reports and fixes, feature requests and implementations should be +sent to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org, the bug/feature list. This is coupled +to the tracker at http://debbugs.gnu.org . + +You can subscribe to the mailing lists, or see the list archives, +by following links from http://savannah.gnu.org/mail/?group=emacs . + +** Document your changes. + +Any change that matters to end-users should have a NEWS entry. + +Think about whether your change requires updating the documentation +(both manuals and doc-strings). If you know it does not, mark the NEWS +entry with "---". If you know that *all* the necessary documentation +updates have been made, mark the entry with "+++". Otherwise do not mark it. + +** Understanding Emacs Internals. + +The best way to understand Emacs Internals is to read the code, +but the nodes "Tips" and "GNU Emacs Internals" in the Appendix +of the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual may also help. + +The file etc/DEBUG describes how to debug Emacs bugs. + + + +This file is part of GNU Emacs. + +GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify +it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by +the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or +(at your option) any later version. + +GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, +but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of +MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the +GNU General Public License for more details. + +You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License +along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. + +Local variables: +mode: outline +paragraph-separate: "[ ]*$" +end: |