From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 15 01:17:53 1996 Return-Path: owner-doc Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id BAA22422 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 15 Aug 1996 01:17:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU (silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU [136.152.64.181]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with ESMTP id BAA22398; Thu, 15 Aug 1996 01:17:44 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from asami@localhost) by silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU (8.7.5/8.6.9) id BAA17803; Thu, 15 Aug 1996 01:17:41 -0700 (PDT) Date: Thu, 15 Aug 1996 01:17:41 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199608150817.BAA17803@silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU> To: doc@freebsd.org CC: jkh@freebsd.org Subject: New section: development From: asami@cs.berkeley.edu (Satoshi Asami) Sender: owner-doc@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk 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 @@ &a.joerg - The FreeBSD Developers + The FreeBSD Developers

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 @@ - Additional FreeBSD contributors + Additional FreeBSD contributors

(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 -not 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 -users 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 @@ + === development.sgml: === The FreeBSD development

Contributed by &a.asami;.

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 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. The CVS tree and committers

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 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 section for more information.)

The are the people who have write 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 cvs(1) command ``commit''.) The length of the list of committers shows just how eager we are to invite people to become more actively involved in FreeBSD development! The FreeBSD core team

The 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.

Also, many core-team members have specialized 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! ;) Additional contributors

And last but not least, the largest group of people are the users who provide feedback and bug-fixes to us. Here are 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!

Providing code is not the only way to contribute to the project; for a more complete list, please refer to the section in this handbook. To summarize, our development is organized in sort of concentric circles. This centralized model is designed for the convenience of the users 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 that the users can easily install and use, and this model works very well to accomplish it.

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