Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 01:17:41 -0700 (PDT) From: asami@cs.berkeley.edu (Satoshi Asami) To: doc@freebsd.org Cc: jkh@freebsd.org Subject: New section: development Message-ID: <199608150817.BAA17803@silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU>
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Dear docmasters,
Please find enclosed a new section explaining the FreeBSD development
model. There is a set of patches followed by a new file
(development.sgml). I stuck it after the "goals" section. Of course
you can move it if you think there is a better place, but I would very
much like to keep it in the first chapter, because this is one of the
very controversial topic (especially when Lunix users are around).
I'm CC:'ing this to Jordan because I stole the last paragraph from his
"history" section. Also, please verify the statement of all core team
members except the founders once being regular committers -- I'm not
sure what happened before my time. :)
===
Index: contrib.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/cvs/src/share/doc/handbook/contrib.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.120
diff -u -r1.120 contrib.sgml
--- contrib.sgml 1996/08/10 08:11:25 1.120
+++ contrib.sgml 1996/08/14 08:02:08
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
<item>&a.joerg
</itemize>
- <sect><heading>The FreeBSD Developers</heading>
+ <sect><heading>The FreeBSD Developers<label id="contrib:committers"></heading>
<p>These are the people who have commit privileges and do the work on
the FreeBSD source tree. All core team members are also developers.
@@ -156,7 +156,8 @@
<tag/XFree86 Project, Inc. Liason/ &a.rich
</descrip>
- <sect><heading>Additional FreeBSD contributors</heading>
+ <sect><heading>Additional FreeBSD contributors<label
+ id="contrib:additional"></heading>
<p>(in alphabetical order by first name):
Index: handbook.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/cvs/src/share/doc/handbook/handbook.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.53
diff -u -r1.53 handbook.sgml
--- handbook.sgml 1996/08/09 15:33:27 1.53
+++ handbook.sgml 1996/08/14 03:35:24
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
&nutshell;
&history;
&goals;
+ &development;
&relnotes;
&install;
Index: history.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/cvs/src/share/doc/handbook/history.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.14
diff -u -r1.14 history.sgml
--- history.sgml 1996/05/16 23:17:59 1.14
+++ history.sgml 1996/08/15 03:21:57
@@ -98,19 +98,3 @@
We also intend to focus on any remaining areas of weakness, like documentation
or missing drivers, and steadily increase the overall quality and feature set
of the system well into 1996 and beyond.
-
-Now might also be a good time to note that the development of FreeBSD is
-<em>not</em> a closed process, despite some popular misconceptions to the
-contrary, and anyone is free to contribute code or ideas. Once a contributor
-has established a reasonable track record for reliability, we generally, in
-fact, give them write access to the project's CVS repository, where their
-changes can propagate automatically to other users of FreeBSD. Our
-centralized development model is designed for the convenience of the
-<em>users</em> of FreeBSD, who are thereby provided with an easy way of
-tracking one central code base, not to keep potential contributors out!
-Individuals who hae shown a consistent and significant dedication to the project
-are even often asked to join the FreeBSD core team to help in setting
-the project's overall directions and goals, so truly no part of the project
-is closed to additional members. All we ask of those wishing for closer
-ties to this project is some of the same dedication its current members have
-to its continued success!
Index: sections.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /usr/cvs/src/share/doc/handbook/sections.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.16
diff -u -r1.16 sections.sgml
--- sections.sgml 1996/07/29 07:15:57 1.16
+++ sections.sgml 1996/08/14 03:38:00
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
<!ENTITY current SYSTEM "current.sgml">
<!ENTITY stable SYSTEM "stable.sgml">
<!ENTITY crypt SYSTEM "crypt.sgml">
+<!ENTITY development SYSTEM "development.sgml">
<!ENTITY dialup SYSTEM "dialup.sgml">
<!ENTITY diskless SYSTEM "diskless.sgml">
<!ENTITY dma SYSTEM "dma.sgml">
===
development.sgml:
===
<!-- $Id $ -->
<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
<sect><heading>The FreeBSD development<label id="development"></heading>
<p><em>Contributed by &a.asami;</em>.
<p>Now, some of you may be wondering ``how does this project work?''
Let me first state that the development of FreeBSD is a very open
process, despite certain popular misconceptions to the contrary. In
fact, FreeBSD is built upon the effort of hundreds of people around
the world, as you can see from our <ref id="contrib" name="list of
contributors,"> and we are always very eager to import suggestions and
even new people into our project. Let me explain the organization we
use to translate ideas and code from this vast amalgam of programmers
into concrete bits and bytes in our central code tree.
<descrip>
<tag>The CVS tree and committers<label id="development:committers"></tag>
<p>The central source tree of FreeBSD is maintained by CVS (Concurrent
Versions System). The main CVS tree resides on a computer in Concord,
Calif., USA. The CVS tree, as well as the checked-out copy of the
source tree (the <ref id="current" name="FreeBSD-current"> source
tree) is mirrored across many machines all over the world. You can
even have one on your own machine! (There are several ways to
accomplish this; please refer to the
<ref id="synching" name="Syncronizing your source tree">
section for more information.)
<p>The <ref id="contrib:committers" name="committers"> are the people
who have <em>write</em> access to the CVS tree, and thus are the ones
who are authorized to make modifications to the FreeBSD source. (The
name ``committer'' comes from the <tt>cvs(1)</tt> command
``<tt>commit</tt>''.) The length of the list of committers shows just
how eager we are to invite people to become more actively involved in
FreeBSD development!
<tag>The FreeBSD core team</tag>
<p>The <ref id="contrib:core" name="FreeBSD core team"> is equivalent
to the board of directors if the FreeBSD Project were a company. The
primary task of the core team is to make sure the project, as a whole,
is in good shape and is heading to the right direction. Inviting
dedicated and responsible developers to join our group of committers
is only one of them. Maintaining the core-team roster as some members
move on is another; in fact, all of the core-team members (except for
the founders of the project) were once regular committers, whose
addiction to the project have gotten the best of them.
<p>Also, many core-team members have specialized <ref id="contrib:who"
name="areas of responsibility."> Note that most of the core are
completely volunteers when it comes to FreeBSD development and do not
benefit from the project financially. Thus, the ``board of
directors'' analogy above is not very accurate; it may be more
suitable to say that these are the people who gave up their lives in
favor of FreeBSD against their better judgements! <tt>;)</tt>
<tag>Additional contributors</tag>
<p>And last but not least, the largest group of people are the users
who provide feedback and bug-fixes to us. Here are <ref
id="contrib:additional" name="the names"> of the people who wrote
something that made its way into our main source tree, most of them
regular users; by contributing something back to FreeBSD, you can be
on this list too!
<p>Providing code is not the only way to contribute to the project;
for a more complete list, please refer to the <ref id="submitters"
name="how to contribute"> section in this handbook.
</descrip>
To summarize, our development is organized in sort of concentric
circles. This centralized model is designed for the convenience of
the <em>users</em> of FreeBSD, who are thereby provided with an easy
way of tracking one central code base, not to keep potential
contributors out! Our desire is to to present a stable operating
system with a large set of coherent <ref id="ports" name="application
programs"> that the users can easily install and use, and this model
works very well to accomplish it.
<p>As I mentioned above, individuals who have shown a consistent and
significant dedication to the project are even often asked to join the
FreeBSD core team to help in setting the project's overall directions
and goals, so truly no part of the project is closed to additional
members. All we ask of those wishing for closer ties to this project
is some of the same dedication its current members have to its
continued success!
===
Enjoy!
Satoshi
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