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#+TITLE:      How to contribute to Org?
#+AUTHOR:     Worg people
#+EMAIL:      bzg AT altern DOT org
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#+CATEGORY:   worg

# This file is the default header for new Org files in Worg.  Feel free
# to tailor it to your needs.

[[file:index.org][{Back to Worg's index}]]

* Types of contributions

Every contribution to Org is very welcome.  Here is a list of areas where
your contribution will be useful:

- you can submit *bug reports* -- Before sending a bug report, make sure
  you have read this section of Org's manual: [[http://orgmode.org/org.html#Feedback][Feedback]]

- you can submit *feature requests* -- Org is already mature, but new
  ideas keep popping up.  If you want to request a feature, it might
  be a good idea to have a look at the current [[http://orgmode.org/worg/org-issues.php][Issue tracking file]]
  which captures both bug reports and feature requests.  Or dig into
  the mailing list for possible previous discussions about your idea.
  If you cannot find back your idea, formulate it as detailed as
  possible, if possible with examples, and send it to the mailing
  list.

- you can submit *patches* -- You can submit patches to the mailing list.

  If your patch is against a file that is part of Emacs, then your
  total contribution (all patches you submit) should change /less than
  20 lines/.  If you contribute more, you have to assign the copyright
  of your contribution to the Free Software Foundation (see below).
  
- you can submit Org *add-ons* -- there are many Org add-ons.  The best way
  is to submit your code to the mailing list to discuss it with people.  If
  it is useful, you might consider contributing it to the =CONTRIB/=
  directory in the git repository.

- you can submit material to the *Worg* website -- This website is made of
  Org files that you can contribute to.  Learn what Worg is [[file:worg-about.org][about]] and how
  to contribute to it [[file:worg-git.org][through git]].

* Copyright issues when contributing to Emacs org-mode

Org is made of many files.  Most of them are also distributed as part
of GNU Emacs.  These files are called the /Org core/, and they are all
copyrighted by the [[http://www.fsf.org][Free Software Foundation, Inc]].  If you consider
contributing to these files, your first need to grant the right to
include your works in GNU Emacs to the FSF.  For this you need to
complete [[http://orgmode.org/request-assign-future.txt][this form]], send it to [[mailto:assign@gnu.org][assign@gnu.org]], and tell the Org-mode
maintainer when this process is complete.  Some people consider this a
hassle.  I don't want to discuss this in detail here - there are some
good reasons for getting the copyright registered, an example is
discussed in this [[http://twit.tv/floss117][FLOSS weekly podcast]].  Furthermore, by playing
according to the Emacs rules, we gain the fantastic advantage that
every version of Emacs ships with Org-mode already fully built in.  So
please consider doing this - it makes our work as maintainers so much
easier, because we can then take your patches without any additional
work.

If you want to learn more about /why/ copyright assignments are
collected, read this: [[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html][Why the FSF gets copyright assignments from
contributors?]]

* Preferred way of submitting patches

Org-mode is developed using /git/ as the version control system.  Git
provides an amazing framework to collaborate on a project.  Git can be
used to make patches and send them via email - this is perfectly fine
for minor changes.  These patches will be automatically registered at
[[http://patchwork.newartisans.com/project/org-mode][John Wiegley's patchwork server]] and will then be accepted, rejected,
or sent back to the author with a request for modification.

For more significant contributions, the best way to submit patches is
through public branches of your repository clone.

1. Clone our git repository at =http://repo.or.cz/w/org-mode.git=

2. Create a repository that can be publicly accessed, for example on
   /GitHub/, /repo.or.cz/, or on your own server.

3. Push your topic branches (and optionally the master branch) to your
   public repository.

   Define a remote for your public repository you push topics to.

   : git remote add REMOTE URL-GOES-HERE

   Push branches to the remote

   : git push REMOTE BRANCH1 [BRANCH2 BRANCH3 ...]

   e.g.

   : git remote add github ssh://.../     # Done once to define the remote 'github'
   : git push github my-topic

4. Do your work on topic-specific branches, using a branch name that
   relates to what you are working on.

5. Often do

   : git remote update

   to pull commits from all defined remote repositories, in particular
   the org-mode master at /repo.or.cz/.

6. When you have something workable, publish the git path and branch
   name on the mailing list, so that people can test it and review
   your work.

7. After your topic has been merged to the project master branch you
   can delete the topic on your local and remote repositories.

   : git branch -d NEWTOPIC
   : git push REMOTE :NEWTOPIC

* ChangeLog entries and commit messages

We have decided to no longer keep a ChangeLog file to record changes
to individual functions.  In a modern version control system like git,
ChangeLog is duplicating information that should be in the commit
message, and it is the main cause of merge conflicts.

Instead, the change log entry should be part of the commit message.
Line 1 of the commit message should always be a short description of
the overall change.  In line 3, the ChangeLog entry should start, in a
similar format as in the old ChangeLog files, but without the author
information (which is part of the commit anyway).  After the
changelog, another empty line should come before any additional
information that the committer wishes to provide in order to expain
the patch.

An example for such a commit message is [[http://article.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.orgmode/25574][here]].

If you are using /magit.el/ in Emacs, such entries are easily made by
pressing =C= in the diff listing.  Another option to make the entries
is to use `C-x 4 a' in the changed function.  This will create entries
in the ChangeLog file, and you can then cut and paste these to the
commit message and remove the indentation.


* Copyrighted contributors to Org-mode

Here is the list of people who have contributed actual code to the
Org-mode core.  Note that the manual contains a more extensive list
with acknowledgments, including contributed ideas!  The lists below
are mostly for house keeping, to help the maintainers keep track of
copyright issues.

** Current contributors
  :PROPERTIES:
  :CUSTOM_ID: contributors_with_fsf_papers
  :END:

Here is the list of people who signed the papers with the Free Software
Foundation and can now freely submit code to Org files that are included
within GNU Emacs:

1. Russel Adams
2. Benjamin Andresen
3. Konstantin Antipin
4. Ian Barton
5. Thomas Baumann
6. Jan Böker
7. Lennart Borgman
8. Tom Breton
9. Baoqiu Cui
10. Sacha Chua
11. Dan Davison
12. Carsten Dominik
13. Stephen Eglen
14. Christian Egli
15. Adam Elliott
16. Miguel A. Figueroa-Villanueva
17. Mikael Fornius
18. Eric S. Fraga
19. Daniel M German
20. Bastien Guerry
21. Daniel M. Hackney
22. Bernt Hansen
23. Magnus Henoch
24. Tomas Hlavaty
25. Tassilo Horn
26. Phil Jackson
27. Peter Jones
28. Tokuya Kameshima
29. Richard Klinda
30. Anthony Lander
31. Christopher League
32. David Maus
33. Ross Patterson
34. Martin Pohlack
35. Jason Riedy
36. Richard Riley
37. Philip Rooke
38. Sebastian Rose
39. Eric Schulte
40. Charles Sebold
41. Paul Sexton
42. James TD Smith
43. Michael Sperber
44. Ulf Stegemann
45. Lukasz Stelmach
46. Andy Steward
47. Christopher Suckling
48. David O'Toole
49. John Wiegley
50. Piotr Zielinski

** Processing

These people have been asked to sign the papers, and they are
currently considering it or a request is being processed by the FSF.

1. Russel Adams
2. Chris Gray
3. Andreas Burtzlaff

** Tiny Changes

These people have submitted tiny change patches that made it into Org
without FSF papers.  When they submit more, we need to get papers
eventually.  The limit is a cumulative change of 20 non-repetitive
change lines.  Details are given in [[http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#Legally-Significant ][this document]].

1. Robert P. Goldman
2. Julien Barnier
3. Andy Lutomirski
4. Joel Boehland

(this list may be incomplete - please help to complete it)

** No FSF assignment

These people cannot or prefer to not sign the FSF copyright papers,
and we can only accept patches that do not change the core files (the
ones that are also in Emacs).

Luckily, this list is still empty.

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Last update: 06-04-2010 16:29
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