add special-snowflake CONTRIBUTING for matrix-doc

pull/977/head
Richard van der Hoff 8 years ago
parent ac006f8e1e
commit 85594d4d97

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Contributing code to matrix-doc
===============================
Contributing to matrix-doc
==========================
matrix-doc follows the same pattern as https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.rst
Everyone is welcome to contribute to the ``matrix-doc`` project, provided that they
are willing to license their contributions under the same license as the
project itself. We follow a simple 'inbound=outbound' model for contributions:
the act of submitting an 'inbound' contribution means that the contributor
agrees to license the code under the same terms as the project's overall
'outbound' license - in our case, this is Apache Software License
v2 (see LICENSE).
Specification changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Matrix specification documents the APIs which Matrix clients can use. For
this to be effective, the APIs need to be present and working correctly in a
server before they can be documented in the specification. This process can
take some time to complete.
For this reason, we have not found the github pull-request model effective for
discussing changes to the specification. Instead, we have adopted the following
workflow:
1. Create a discussion document outlining the proposed change. The document
should include details such as the HTTP endpoint being changed (or the
suggested URL for a new endpoint), any new or changed parameters and response
fields, and generally as much detail about edge-cases and error handling as
is practical at this stage.
The Matrix Core Team's preferred tool for such discussion documents is
`Google Sheets <https://docs.google.com>`_ thanks to its support for comment
threads.
2. Seek feedback on the proposal. `#matrix-dev:matrix.org
<http://matrix.to/#/#matrix-dev:matrix.org>`_ is a good place to reach the
core team and others who may be interested in your proposal.
3. Prototype the changes in servers and clients. Refer to the CONTRIBUTING files
of the relevant projects for details of how best to do this.
4. Iterate steps 1-3 as necessary.
5. Write the specification for the change, and create a `pull request`_ for
it. It may be that much of the text of the change can be taken directly from
the discussion document, though typically some effort will be needed to
change to the ReST syntax and to ensure that the text is as clear as
possible.
Other changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The above process is unnecessary for smaller changes, and those which do not
put new requirements on servers. This category of changes includes the
following:
* changes to supporting documentation
* changes to the scripts used to generate the specification
* clarifications to the specification which do not change the behaviour of
Matrix servers.
For such changes, please do just open a `pull request`_.
Pull requests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.. _pull request: `Pull requests`_
The preferred and easiest way to contribute changes to the ``matrix-doc`` project
is to fork it on github, and then create a pull request to ask us to pull your
changes into our repo (https://help.github.com/articles/using-pull-requests/).
(Note that, unlike most of the other matrix.org projects, pull requests for
matrix-doc should be based on the ``master`` branch.)
Code style
~~~~~~~~~~
Python code within the ``matrix-doc`` project should follow the same style as
synapse, which is documented at
https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/tree/master/docs/code_style.rst.
Sign off
~~~~~~~~
In order to have a concrete record that your contribution is intentional
and you agree to license it under the same terms as the project's license, we've adopted the
same lightweight approach that the Linux Kernel
(https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/SubmittingPatches), Docker
(https://github.com/docker/docker/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md), and many other
projects use: the DCO (Developer Certificate of Origin:
http://developercertificate.org/). This is a simple declaration that you wrote
the contribution or otherwise have the right to contribute it to Matrix::
Developer Certificate of Origin
Version 1.1
Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
660 York Street, Suite 102,
San Francisco, CA 94110 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.
Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
(a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
have the right to submit it under the open source license
indicated in the file; or
(b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
license and I have the right under that license to submit that
work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
in the file; or
(c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
it.
(d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
this project or the open source license(s) involved.
If you agree to this for your contribution, then all that's needed is to
include the line in your commit or pull request comment::
Signed-off-by: Your Name <your@email.example.org>
...using your real name; unfortunately pseudonyms and anonymous contributions
can't be accepted. Git makes this trivial - just use the -s flag when you do
``git commit``, having first set ``user.name`` and ``user.email`` git configs
(which you should have done anyway :)

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