Bug #163
READMEs and websites should reference "Contributing" wiki page
| Status: | Resolved | Start: | 06/21/2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority: | Normal | Due date: | ||
| Assigned to: |  Joseph Spiros |
% Done: | 100% |
|
| Category: | Documentation | |||
| Target version: | 0.9.1 |
Description
The READMEs and websites should link to a "Contributing" or "How to Contribute" wiki page, so we don't have to update all of them whenever we need to make changes. This presupposes the existence of such a page, which should at least include information on using the bug tracker, mailing lists, and IRC channel, and how merges are handled. We also need to have a link to a contributor agreement that contributors can download, sign, and mail/fax/scan+e-mail/whatever.
Related issues
| duplicated by Philo - Bug #162: README should explicitly mention bug tracker. | Closed | 06/21/2011 |
History
Updated by Stephen Burrows 11 months ago
Perhaps this should be a documentation page instead of a wiki page.
Updated by Stephen Burrows 11 months ago
Also, why do we need a contributor agreement? Django doesn't.
Updated by Joseph Spiros 11 months ago
Stephen Burrows wrote:
Also, why do we need a contributor agreement? Django doesn't.
I require one for legal reasons, both anticipated and unanticipated.
Two examples would be to allow for relicensing in the future, and to allow legal action to be taken by iThink Software against violators of the license, both of which would otherwise need or benefit from the cooperation of every contributor. And that gets very messy as time goes on. For example, what happens if someone dies? Or, if someone just disappears?
Another example is that some people adopting open source software would like to be able to purchase a license for their own protection. Even SQLite offers this, despite being public domain.
Some more information is available on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contributor_License_Agreement
Mind you, I am not a lawyer, so if you actually want to know about this stuff you should contact one.
Updated by Stephen Burrows 10 months ago
- Category set to Documentation
- Assigned to set to Joseph Spiros
Added a contribution page to the docs in my develop branch with c79bb6f20ff4100201f23a5d521aaa39dfc1c291. Meant more as an initial effort rather than a final word. For example, it doesn't have a link to the CLA because I don't have a copy and there's no set procedure (that I know of).
Just for the record, I think it might be worthwhile to limit the CLA to "significant contributions"... I'm concerned that the stark requirement might scare away potential contributors. shrug
Updated by Stephen Burrows 8 months ago
- Target version set to 0.9.1
Updated by Joseph Spiros 7 months ago
- Status changed from New to Resolved
- % Done changed from 0 to 100