@node Support
@appendix Support

@menu
* Getting help::
* Commercial Support::
* Bug Reports::
* Contributing::
* Certification::
@end menu

@node Getting help
@section Getting Help

A mailing list where users may help each other exists, and you can
reach it by sending e-mail to @email{gnutls-help@@gnutls.org}.  Archives
of the mailing list discussions, and an interface to manage
subscriptions, is available through the World Wide Web at
@url{http://lists.gnutls.org/pipermail/gnutls-help/}.

A mailing list for developers are also available, see
@url{http://www.gnutls.org/lists.html}.
Bug reports should be sent to @email{bugs@@gnutls.org}, see
@ref{Bug Reports}.

@node Commercial Support
@section Commercial Support

Commercial support is available for users of GnuTLS.  The kind of
support that can be purchased may include:

@itemize

@item Implement new features.
Such as a new TLS extension.

@item Port GnuTLS to new platforms.
This could include porting to an embedded platforms that may need
memory or size optimization.

@item Integrating TLS as a security environment in your existing project.

@item System design of components related to TLS.

@end itemize

If you are interested, please write to:

@verbatim
Simon Josefsson Datakonsult
Hagagatan 24
113 47 Stockholm
Sweden

E-mail: simon@josefsson.org
@end verbatim

If your company provides support related to GnuTLS and would like to
be mentioned here, contact the authors.


@node Bug Reports
@section Bug Reports
@cindex reporting bugs

If you think you have found a bug in GnuTLS, please investigate it and
report it.

@itemize @bullet

@item Please make sure that the bug is really in GnuTLS, and
preferably also check that it hasn't already been fixed in the latest
version.

@item You have to send us a test case that makes it possible for us to
reproduce the bug.

@item You also have to explain what is wrong; if you get a crash, or
if the results printed are not good and in that case, in what way.
Make sure that the bug report includes all information you would need
to fix this kind of bug for someone else.

@end itemize

Please make an effort to produce a self-contained report, with
something definite that can be tested or debugged.  Vague queries or
piecemeal messages are difficult to act on and don't help the
development effort.

If your bug report is good, we will do our best to help you to get a
corrected version of the software; if the bug report is poor, we won't
do anything about it (apart from asking you to send better bug
reports).

If you think something in this manual is unclear, or downright
incorrect, or if the language needs to be improved, please also send a
note.

Send your bug report to:

@center @samp{bugs@@gnutls.org}

@node Contributing
@section Contributing
@cindex contributing
@cindex hacking

If you want to submit a patch for inclusion -- from solving a typo you
discovered, up to adding support for a new feature -- you should
submit it as a bug report, using the process in @ref{Bug Reports}.  There are some
things that you can do to increase the chances for it to be included
in the official package.

Unless your patch is very small (say, under 10 lines) we require that
you assign the copyright of your work to the Free Software Foundation.
This is to protect the freedom of the project.  If you have not
already signed papers, we will send you the necessary information when
you submit your contribution.

For contributions that doesn't consist of actual programming code, the
only guidelines are common sense.  
For code contributions, a number of style guides will help you:

@itemize @bullet

@item Coding Style.
Follow the GNU Standards document.
@c (@pxref{top, GNU Coding Standards,,standards}).

If you normally code using another coding standard, there is no
problem, but you should use @samp{indent} to reformat the code
@c (@pxref{top, GNU Indent,, indent}) 
before submitting your work.

@item Use the unified diff format @samp{diff -u}.

@item Return errors.
No reason whatsoever should abort the execution of the library.  Even
memory allocation errors, e.g. when malloc return NULL, should work
although result in an error code.

@item Design with thread safety in mind.
Don't use global variables.  Don't even write to per-handle global
variables unless the documented behaviour of the function you write is
to write to the per-handle global variable.

@item Avoid using the C math library.
It causes problems for embedded implementations, and in most
situations it is very easy to avoid using it.

@item Document your functions.
Use comments before each function headers, that, if properly
formatted, are extracted into Texinfo manuals and GTK-DOC web pages.

@item Supply a ChangeLog and NEWS entries, where appropriate.

@end itemize

@node Certification
@section Certification
@cindex certification

Many cryptographic libraries claim certifications from national or international bodies. These certifications are tied on a specific (and often restricted) version of the library or a 
specific product using the library, and typically in the case of software they assure that the algorithms implemented are correct. The major certifications known are:
@itemize
@item USA's FIPS 140-2 at Level 1 which certifies that approved algorithms are used (see @url{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIPS_140-2});
@item Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation (CC), an international standard for verification of elaborate security claims (see @url{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Criteria}).
@end itemize

Obtaining such a certification is an expensive and elaborate job that has no immediate value for a continuously developed free software library (as the certification is tied to the
particular version tested). While, as a free software project, we are not actively pursuing this kind of certification, GnuTLS has been FIPS-140-2 certified in several systems by
third parties. If you are, interested, see @ref{Commercial Support}.