-@c -*- coding: us-ascii; mode: texinfo; -*-
+@c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*-
+
+@include included/helpus.itexi
@node Introduction to contributing
@chapter Introduction to contributing
+This chapter presents a quick overview of ways that people can
+help LilyPond.
@menu
-* Overview of tasks::
-* For unix developers::
-* For other contributors::
+* Help us::
+* Overview of work flow::
+* Mentors::
@end menu
-@node Overview of tasks
-@section Overview of tasks
-
-
-FIXME: The intro should contain the "help us" material from web/,
-quite possibly as the very first thing. This requires having a
-macro for it, which depends on issue 939.
-
+@node Help us
+@section Help us
-@node For unix developers
-@section For unix developers
+@helpusNeed
+@helpusTasks
-To download the LilyPond Git repository:
+@helpusProjects
-@example
-git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/lilypond.git
-@end example
-Documentation is built using Texinfo. Subscribe to the
-developers' mailing list at
-@uref{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel} and
-send well-formed Git patches to @uref{lilypond-devel@gnu.org} for
-discussion.
+@node Overview of work flow
+@section Overview of work flow
+@cartouche
+@strong{Ultra-short summary for Unix developers}: source code is at
+@code{git://git.sv.gnu.org/lilypond.git}. Documentation is built
+with Texinfo, after pre-processing with @code{lilypond-book}.
+Send well-formed patches to @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}.
+@end cartouche
-@node For other contributors
-@section For other contributors
-
-
-The LilyPond source code is maintained as a Git repository, which
-contains:
+Git is a @emph{version control system} that tracks the history of
+a program's source code. The LilyPond source code is maintained
+as a Git repository, which contains:
@itemize
@item
The @q{official} LilyPond Git repository is hosted by the GNU
Savannah software forge at @uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org}.
-Although, since Git uses a @q{distributed} model, technically
+Although, since Git uses a @emph{distributed} model, technically
there is no central repository. Instead, each contributor keeps a
complete copy of the entire repository (about 116M).
Changes made within one contributor's copy of the repository can
be shared with other contributors using @emph{patches}. A patch
-is a simple text file generated by the @code{git} program that
+is a simple text file generated by the @command{git} program that
indicates what changes have been made (using a special format).
If a contributor's patch is approved for inclusion (usually
through the mailing list), someone on the current development team
-will @emph{apply} (or @q{push}) the patch to the official
-repository.
-
-Compiling (@q{building}) LilyPond allows developers to see how
-changes to the source code affect the program itself. Compiling
-is also needed to package the program for specific operating
-systems or distributions. LilyPond can be compiled from a local
-Git repository (for developers), or from a downloaded tarball (for
-packagers). Compiling LilyPond is a rather involved process, and
-most contributor tasks do not require it.
+will @emph{push} the patch to the official repository.
+
+The Savannah software forge provides two separate interfaces for
+viewing the LilyPond Git repository online: @emph{cgit} and
+@emph{gitweb}. The cgit interface should work faster than gitweb
+in most situations, but only gitweb allows you to search through
+the source code using @command{grep}, which you may find useful.
+The cgit interface is at
+@uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org/cgit/lilypond.git/} and the gitweb
+interface is at
+@uref{http://git.sv.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=lilypond.git}.
+
+Git is a complex and powerful tool, but tends to be confusing at
+first, particularly for users not familiar with the command line
+and/or version control systems. We have created the
+@command{lily-git} graphical user interface to ease this
+difficulty.
+
+@emph{Compiling} (@q{building}) LilyPond allows developers to see
+how changes to the source code affect the program itself.
+Compiling is also needed to package the program for specific
+operating systems or distributions. LilyPond can be compiled from
+a local Git repository (for developers), or from a downloaded
+tarball (for packagers). Compiling LilyPond is a rather involved
+process, and most contributor tasks do not require it.
+
+Contributors can contact the developers through the
+@q{lilypond-devel} mailing list. The mailing list archive is
+located at
+@uref{http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-devel/}. If you
+have a question for the developers, search the archives first to
+see if the issue has already been discussed. Otherwise, send an
+email to @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}. You can subscribe to
+the developers' mailing list here:
+@uref{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lilypond-devel}.
+
+@warning{Contributors on Windows or MacOS X wishing to compile
+code or documentation are strongly advised to use lilybuntu, as
+discussed in @ref{Quick start}.}
+
+
+@node Mentors
+@section Mentors
+
+We have a semi-formal system of mentorship, similar to the
+medieval @qq{journeyman/master} training system. New contributors
+will have a dedicated mentor to help them @qq{learn the ropes}.
+
+@warning{This is subject to the availability of mentors; certain
+jobs have more potential mentors than others.}
+
+@subheading Contributor responsibilities
+
+@enumerate
+
+@item
+Ask your mentor which sections of the CG you should read.
+
+@item
+If you get stuck for longer than 10 minutes, ask your mentor.
+They might not be able to help you with all problems, but we find
+that new contributors often get stuck with something that could be
+solved/explained with 2 or 3 sentences from a mentor.
+
+@item
+Send patches to your mentor for initial comments.
+
+@item
+Inform your mentor if you're going to be away for a month, or if
+you leave entirely. Contributing to lilypond isn't for everybody;
+just let your mentor know so that we can reassign that work to
+somebody else.
+
+@item
+Inform your mentor if you're willing to do more work -- we always
+have way more work than we have helpers available. We try to
+avoid overwhelming new contributors, so you'll be given less work
+than we think you can handle.
+
+@end enumerate
+
+
+@subheading Mentor responsibilities
+
+@enumerate
+
+@item
+Respond to questions from your contributor(s) promptly, even if
+the response is just @qq{sorry, I don't know} or @qq{sorry, I'm
+very busy for the next 3 days; I'll get back to you then}. Make
+sure they feel valued.
+
+@item
+Inform your contributor(s) about the expected turnaround for your
+emails -- do you work on lilypond every day, or every weekend, or
+what? Also, if you'll be unavailable for longer than usual (say,
+if you normally reply within 24 hours, but you'll be at a
+conference for a week), let your contributors know. Again, make
+sure they feel valued, and that your silence (if they ask a
+question during that period) isn't their fault.
+
+@item
+Inform your contributor(s) if they need to do anything unusual for
+the builds, such as doing a @qq{make clean / doc-clean} or
+switching git branches (not expected, but just in case...)
+
+@item
+You don't need to be able to completely approve patches. Make
+sure the patch meets whatever you know of the guidelines (for doc
+style, code indentation, whatever), and then send it on to the
+frog list or -devel for more comments. If you feel confident
+about the patch, you can push it directly (this is mainly intended
+for docs and translations; code patches should almost always go to
+-devel before being pushed).
+
+@item
+Keep track of patches from your contributor. If you've sent a
+patch to -devel, it's your responsibility to pester people to get
+comments for it, or at very least add it to the google tracker.
+
+@end enumerate
+
projects / lilypond.git / blobdiff