-*- mode: org; fill-column:65 -*-

This is the GIT repository for the development of Org-mode, an
Emacs mode for organizing your life.

This file explains the rules for participating in Org-mode
development.


* Main rules

1. The git repository is hosted publicly at repo.or.cs.  Anyone
   can get a clone of the current repository state using the
   command

     git clone git://repo.or.cz/org-mode.git

   Having a clone is sufficient to start hacking and to produce
   patches that can be easily and consistently be applied to the
   main repository.

2. People who are interested to participate in the Org-mode
   development can do so by sending patches to
   emacs-orgmode@gnu.org.

3. Any interested developer can request push access to the
   repository by sending their repo.or.cz user information to the
   maintainer of Org-mode.  By requesting push access, you
   acknowledge that you have read and agreed with the following
   rules:

   - Org-mode is part of Emacs.  Therefore we need to be very
     conscious that any changes moving into the Org-mode core are
     done only by people who have signed the appropriate papers
     with the free software foundation.  The files to which this
     applies are:

     - all *.el files in the root directory of the repository
     - org.texi, orgcard.tex, and ChangeLog.

   - Before making any significant changes, please explain and
     discuss them on the mailing list emacs-orgmode@gnu.org.

     This does obviously not apply to people like Bastien Guerry,
     David O'Toole, Piotr Zielinski, or anyone else who has
     contributed and still maintains a file that is part of
     Org-mode.  Please, just use the new mechanism to make sure
     all changes end in the right place.

   - Making and pushing a change to the Org-mode core requires
     you also to provide ChangeLog entries.  Just press `C-x 4 a'
     in each function or variable you have modified and describe
     the change you made in the ChangeLog buffer/file.  This is
     important, because these entries will be required when
     uploading any new version into the Emacs CVS tree.

   - Among other things, Org-mode is widely appreciated because
     if its simplicity, cleanness and consistency.  We should try
     hard to preserve this and I would like to ask everyone to
     keep this in mind when developing changes.

* The CONTRIB directory

The git repository contains a CONTRIB directory.  This directory
is the playing field for any developer, also people who have not
(yet) signed the papers with the FSF.  You are free to add files
to this directory, implementing extensions, new link types etc.
Also non-Lisp extensions like scripts to process Org-mode files
in different ways are welcome in this directory.  You should
provide documentation with your extensions, at least in the form
of commentary in the file.  Please discuss your extensions on
emacs-orgmode@gnu.org.

The CONTRIB directory will be part of the Org-mode distribution
starting with version 6.0 (the first release after 5.20).  When
that happens, people who want to use extensions will have to make
sure their search path (executable or Lisp) includes the relevant
directories.

After files have been tested in CONTRIB and found to be generally
useful, we may decide to clarify copyright questions and then
move the file into the Org-mode core.  This means they will be
moved up to the root directory and will also eventually be added
to Emacs CVS tree.  The final decision about this rests with the
maintainer.