1 @c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*-
3 @include included/helpus.itexi
5 @node Introduction to contributing
6 @chapter Introduction to contributing
12 * Overview of work flow::
27 @node Overview of work flow
28 @section Overview of work flow
31 @strong{Ultra-short summary for Unix developers}: source code is at
32 @code{git://git.sv.gnu.org/lilypond.git}. Documentation is built
33 with Texinfo, after pre-processing with @code{lilypond-book}.
34 Send well-formed patches to @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}.
37 Git is a @emph{version control system} that tracks the history of
38 a program's source code. The LilyPond source code is maintained
39 as a Git repository, which contains:
43 all of the source files needed to build LilyPond, and
46 a record of the entire history of every change made to every file
47 since the program was born.
50 The @q{official} LilyPond Git repository is hosted by the GNU
51 Savannah software forge at @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org}.
52 Although, since Git uses a @emph{distributed} model, technically
53 there is no central repository. Instead, each contributor keeps a
54 complete copy of the entire repository (about 116M).
56 Changes made within one contributor's copy of the repository can
57 be shared with other contributors using @emph{patches}. A patch
58 is a simple text file generated by the @command{git} program that
59 indicates what changes have been made (using a special format).
60 If a contributor's patch is approved for inclusion (usually
61 through the mailing list), someone on the current development team
62 will @emph{push} the patch to the official repository.
64 The Savannah software forge provides two separate interfaces for
65 viewing the LilyPond Git repository online: @emph{cgit} and
66 @emph{gitweb}. The cgit interface should work faster than gitweb
67 in most situations, but only gitweb allows you to search through
68 the source code using @command{grep}, which you may find useful.
69 The cgit interface is at
70 @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org/cgit/lilypond.git/} and the gitweb
72 @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=lilypond.git}.
74 Git is a complex and powerful tool, but tends to be confusing at
75 first, particularly for users not familiar with the command line
76 and/or version control systems. Contributors who don't want to
77 deal with Git directly are encouraged to use the
78 @command{lily-git} graphical user interface instead.
80 @emph{Compiling} (@q{building}) LilyPond allows developers to see
81 how changes to the source code affect the program itself.
82 Compiling is also needed to package the program for specific
83 operating systems or distributions. LilyPond can be compiled from
84 a local Git repository (for developers), or from a downloaded
85 tarball (for packagers). Compiling LilyPond is a rather involved
86 process, and most contributor tasks do not require it.
88 Contributors can contact the developers through the
89 @q{lilypond-devel} mailing list. The mailing list archive is
91 @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-devel/}. If you
92 have a question for the developers, search the archives first to
93 see if the issue has already been discussed. Otherwise, send an
94 email to @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}. You can subscribe to
95 the developers' mailing list here:
96 @uref{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel}.
102 We have a semi-formal system of mentorship, similar to the
103 medieval @qq{journeyman/master} training system. New contributors
104 will have a dedicated mentor to help them @qq{learn the ropes}.
106 @warning{This is subject to the availability of mentors; certain
107 jobs have more potential mentors than others.}
109 @subheading Contributor responsibilities
114 Ask your mentor which sections of the CG you should read.
117 If you get stuck for longer than 10 minutes, ask your mentor.
118 They might not be able to help you with all problems, but we find
119 that new contributors often get stuck with something that could be
120 solved/explained with 2 or 3 sentences from a mentor.
123 Send patches to your mentor for initial comments.
126 Inform your mentor if you're going to be away for a month, or if
127 you leave entirely. Contributing to lilypond isn't for everybody;
128 just let your mentor know so that we can reassign that work to
132 Inform your mentor if you're willing to do more work -- we always
133 have way more work than we have helpers available. We try to
134 avoid overwhelming new contributors, so you'll be given less work
135 than we think you can handle.
140 @subheading Mentor responsibilities
145 Respond to questions from your contributor(s) promptly, even if
146 the reponse is just @qq{sorry, I don't know} or @qq{sorry, I'm
147 very busy for the next 3 days; I'll get back to you then}. Make
148 sure they feel valued.
151 Inform your contributor(s) about the expected turnaround for your
152 emails -- do you work on lilypond every day, or every weekend, or
153 what? Also, if you'll be unavailable for longer than usual (say,
154 if you normally reply within 24 hours, but you'll be at a
155 conference for a week), let your contributors know. Again, make
156 sure thay feel valued, and that your silence (if they ask a
157 question during that period) isn't their fault.
160 Inform your contributor(s) if they need to do anything unusual for
161 the builds, such as doing a @qq{make clean / doc-clean} or
162 switching git branches (not expected, but just in case...)
165 You don't need to be able to completely approve patches. Make
166 sure the patch meets whatever you know of the guidelines (for doc
167 style, code indentation, whatever), and then send it on to the
168 frog list or -devel for more comments. If you feel confident
169 about the patch, you can push it directly (this is mainly intended
170 for docs and translations; code patches should almost always go to
171 -devel before being pushed).
174 Keep track of patches from your contributor. If you've sent a
175 patch to -devel, it's your responsibility to pester people to get
176 comments for it, or at very least add it to the google tracker.