org-mode/CONTRIBUTE

-*- mode: org; fill-column:70 -*-

The text below explains the rules for participating in Org mode
development.

* Org maintenance

Org maintenance is explained on Worg: see [[https://orgmode.org/worg/org-maintenance.html][org-maintenance]].

* Main contribution rules

1. The master git repository is hosted publicly at [[https://orgmode.org][orgmode.org]].

   Anyone can get a clone of the current repository like this:

   : git clone https://code.orgmode.org/bzg/org-mode.git

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

2. People who are interested in participating to the Org mode
   development can do so by sending patches to the mailing list:

   : emacs-orgmode@gnu.org

3. An interested developer can also request push access to the
   repository by sending an email to the maintainer to request an
   account on code.orgmode.org.

   After you have been added as a user with push privileges:

   : git clone git@code.orgmode.org:bzg/org-mode.git

   By requesting push access, you acknowledge that you have read and
   agreed with the following rules:

   - Org mode is part of GNU Emacs.  Therefore, we need to be very
     conscious about changes moving into the Org mode core.  These can
     originate only from people who have signed the appropriate papers
     with the Free Software Foundation.  The files to which this
     applies are:

     - all *.el files in the lisp directory of the repository
     - org.texi, orgcard.tex in the doc directory
     - the corresponding ChangeLog files

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

     This does obviously not apply to people who are maintaining their
     own contributions to Org mode. Please, just use the new mechanism
     to make sure all changes end up in the right place.

     We value a nice tone in our discussions: please check and respect
     the [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/kind-communication.en.html][GNU Kind Communications Guidelines]].

   - Org mode no longer uses ChangeLog entries to document changes.
     Instead, special commit messages are used, as described in the
     `CONTRIBUTE' file in the main Emacs repository.

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

See [[https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contribute.html][worg/org-contribute]] for more guidance on how to contribute
effectively.

* The =contrib/= directory

The git repository used to contain a =contrib/= directory.  Files in
this directory where moved to a new [[https://git.sr.ht/~bzg/org-contrib][org-contrib]] repository before Org
9.5.  You can install the new =org-contrib= from [[https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/][NonGNU ELPA]].