1 @c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*-
3 @include included/helpus.itexi
5 @node Introduction to contributing
6 @chapter Introduction to contributing
8 This chapter presents a quick overview of ways that people can
13 * Overview of work flow::
29 @node Overview of work flow
30 @section Overview of work flow
33 @strong{Ultra-short summary for Unix developers}: source code is at
34 @code{git://git.sv.gnu.org/lilypond.git}. Documentation is built
35 with Texinfo, after pre-processing with @code{lilypond-book}.
36 Send well-formed patches to @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}.
39 Git is a @emph{version control system} that tracks the history of
40 a program's source code. The LilyPond source code is maintained
41 as a Git repository, which contains:
45 all of the source files needed to build LilyPond, and
48 a record of the entire history of every change made to every file
49 since the program was born.
52 The @q{official} LilyPond Git repository is hosted by the GNU
53 Savannah software forge at @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org}.
54 Although, since Git uses a @emph{distributed} model, technically
55 there is no central repository. Instead, each contributor keeps a
56 complete copy of the entire repository (about 116M).
58 Changes made within one contributor's copy of the repository can
59 be shared with other contributors using @emph{patches}. A patch
60 is a simple text file generated by the @command{git} program that
61 indicates what changes have been made (using a special format).
62 If a contributor's patch is approved for inclusion (usually
63 through the mailing list), someone on the current development team
64 will @emph{push} the patch to the official repository.
66 The Savannah software forge provides two separate interfaces for
67 viewing the LilyPond Git repository online: @emph{cgit} and
68 @emph{gitweb}. The cgit interface should work faster than gitweb
69 in most situations, but only gitweb allows you to search through
70 the source code using @command{grep}, which you may find useful.
71 The cgit interface is at
72 @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org/cgit/lilypond.git/} and the gitweb
74 @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=lilypond.git}.
76 Git is a complex and powerful tool, but tends to be confusing at
77 first, particularly for users not familiar with the command line
78 and/or version control systems. Contributors who don't want to
79 deal with Git directly are encouraged to use the
80 @command{lily-git} graphical user interface instead.
82 @emph{Compiling} (@q{building}) LilyPond allows developers to see
83 how changes to the source code affect the program itself.
84 Compiling is also needed to package the program for specific
85 operating systems or distributions. LilyPond can be compiled from
86 a local Git repository (for developers), or from a downloaded
87 tarball (for packagers). Compiling LilyPond is a rather involved
88 process, and most contributor tasks do not require it.
90 Contributors can contact the developers through the
91 @q{lilypond-devel} mailing list. The mailing list archive is
93 @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-devel/}. If you
94 have a question for the developers, search the archives first to
95 see if the issue has already been discussed. Otherwise, send an
96 email to @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}. You can subscribe to
97 the developers' mailing list here:
98 @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel}.
100 @warning{Contributors on Windows or MacOS X wishing to compile
101 code or documentation are strongly advised to use @ref{Lilybuntu}
102 instead of trying to install all software dependencies
109 It is not possible to compile LilyPond on Windows, and extremely
110 difficulty to compile it on MacOS X. We have therefore made a
111 @q{remix} of Ubuntu which includes all necessary dependencies to
112 compile both LilyPond and the documentation. This can be run
113 inside a virtual machine without disturbing your main operating
118 Install some virtualization software.
120 Any virtualization tool can be used, but we recommend VirtualBox:
123 @uref{http://@/www.virtualbox.org/@/wiki/@/Downloads}
126 In virtualization terminology, your main operating system is the
130 Download the @file{lilybuntu.iso} disk image.
133 @uref{http://@/files.lilynet.net/@/lilybuntu.iso}
137 Install @file{lilybuntu.iso} as the @qq{client} operating system
138 on your virtualized system.
140 The latest version of lilybuntu is based on Ubuntu 9.04; if you
141 encounter any difficulties installing it, search for one of the
142 many tutorials for installing Ubuntu 9.04 as a client operating
145 If possible, use at least 700 MB of RAM (1GB would be better) for
146 the virtual machine, and use a dynamically expanding virtual hard
147 drive. A complete compile of everything (code, docs, regression
148 tests) can reach 10 GB.
151 Do any extra configuration for your virtualization software.
153 VirtualBox has extra @qq{guest additions} which can make the
154 virtualization easier to use (full-screen, easy file sharing
155 between host and client operating systems, shared clipboards,
156 etc). Follow the normal procedures for your virtualization
157 software with Ubuntu 9.04 as the client.
161 Follow instructions for Linux when reading instructions about
162 @ref{Working with source code}, or @ref{Compiling}.
168 We have a semi-formal system of mentorship, similar to the
169 medieval @qq{journeyman/master} training system. New contributors
170 will have a dedicated mentor to help them @qq{learn the ropes}.
172 @warning{This is subject to the availability of mentors; certain
173 jobs have more potential mentors than others.}
175 @subheading Contributor responsibilities
180 Ask your mentor which sections of the CG you should read.
183 If you get stuck for longer than 10 minutes, ask your mentor.
184 They might not be able to help you with all problems, but we find
185 that new contributors often get stuck with something that could be
186 solved/explained with 2 or 3 sentences from a mentor.
189 Send patches to your mentor for initial comments.
192 Inform your mentor if you're going to be away for a month, or if
193 you leave entirely. Contributing to lilypond isn't for everybody;
194 just let your mentor know so that we can reassign that work to
198 Inform your mentor if you're willing to do more work -- we always
199 have way more work than we have helpers available. We try to
200 avoid overwhelming new contributors, so you'll be given less work
201 than we think you can handle.
206 @subheading Mentor responsibilities
211 Respond to questions from your contributor(s) promptly, even if
212 the response is just @qq{sorry, I don't know} or @qq{sorry, I'm
213 very busy for the next 3 days; I'll get back to you then}. Make
214 sure they feel valued.
217 Inform your contributor(s) about the expected turnaround for your
218 emails -- do you work on lilypond every day, or every weekend, or
219 what? Also, if you'll be unavailable for longer than usual (say,
220 if you normally reply within 24 hours, but you'll be at a
221 conference for a week), let your contributors know. Again, make
222 sure they feel valued, and that your silence (if they ask a
223 question during that period) isn't their fault.
226 Inform your contributor(s) if they need to do anything unusual for
227 the builds, such as doing a @qq{make clean / doc-clean} or
228 switching git branches (not expected, but just in case...)
231 You don't need to be able to completely approve patches. Make
232 sure the patch meets whatever you know of the guidelines (for doc
233 style, code indentation, whatever), and then send it on to the
234 frog list or -devel for more comments. If you feel confident
235 about the patch, you can push it directly (this is mainly intended
236 for docs and translations; code patches should almost always go to
237 -devel before being pushed).
240 Keep track of patches from your contributor. If you've sent a
241 patch to -devel, it's your responsibility to pester people to get
242 comments for it, or at very least add it to the google tracker.