From c607ba5740efa828b04696d1da0641c6d89866d6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Michael DeHaan <michael.dehaan@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:59:35 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Add CONTRIBUTING.md file

---
 CONTRIBUTING.md | 59 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 59 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7979d757d7f
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+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
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+Contributing to Ansible
+=======================
+
+It is required that you read the following information to learn how to contribute to this project.
+
+Branch Info
+===========
+
+Here's how to understand the branches.
+
+   * The devel branch corresponds to the latest ongoing release
+   * Various release-X.Y branches exist for previous releases
+   * All feature work happens on the development branch.
+   * Major bug fixes will be made to the last release branch only
+   * See CHANGELOG.md for release notes to track each release.
+
+Patch Instructions
+==================
+
+Contributions to the core and modules are greatly welcome.
+
+   * Required Process:
+       * Submit github pull requests to the "ansible/devel" branch for features
+       * Fixes for bugs may also be submitted to "ansible/release-X.Y" for the last release
+       * Make sure "make tests" passes before submitting any requests.
+   * Bonus points:
+       * Joining the mailing list
+       * Fixing bugs instead of sending bug reports.
+       * Using squash merges
+       * Updating the "rst/*" files in the docs project and "docs/" manpage content
+       * Adding more unit tests
+   * Avoid:
+       * Sending patches to the mailing list directly.
+       * Sending feature pull requests to the 'release' branch instead of the devel branch
+       * Sending pull requests to mpdehaan's personal ansible fork.
+       * Sending pull requests about more than one feature in the same pull request.
+       * Whitespace restructuring
+       * Large scale refactoring without a discussion on the list
+
+Coding Standards
+================
+
+We're not too strict on style considerations, but we require:
+
+   * python 2.6 compliant code, unless in ansible modules, then python *2.4* compliant code (no 'with', etc)
+   * 4-space indents, no tabs except in Makefiles
+   * under_scores for method names and variables, not camelCase
+   * GPLv3 license headers on all files, with copyright on new files with your name on it
+   * no single-line if statements, deeply nested list comprehensions, or clever use of metaclasses -- keep it simple
+   * comments where appropriate
+
+Contributors License Agreement
+==============================
+
+By contributing you agree that these contributions are your own (or approved by your employer) and you grant a full, complete, irrevocable
+copyright license to all users and developers of the project, present and future, persusant to the license of the project.
+
+
+