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<article>
  <articleinfo>
    <title>Committer Guide</title>

    <authorgroup>
      <author>
	<surname>The FreeBSD Documentation Project</surname>
      </author>
    </authorgroup>

    <pubdate>$FreeBSD$</pubdate>

    <copyright>
      <year>1999</year>
      <year>2000</year>
      <year>2001</year>
      <holder>The FreeBSD Documentation Project</holder>
    </copyright>

    <abstract>
      <para>This document provides information for the FreeBSD committer
	community.  All new committers should read this document before they
	start, and existing committers are strongly encouraged to review it
	from time to time.</para>
    </abstract>
  </articleinfo>

  <sect1 id="admin">
    <title>Administrative Details</title>

    <informaltable frame="none" orient="port">
      <tgroup cols="2">
	<tbody>
	  <row>
	    <entry><emphasis>Main Repository Host</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry><hostid>freefall.FreeBSD.org</hostid></entry>
	  </row>
	  
	  <row>
	    <entry><emphasis>Login Methods</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry>&man.ssh.1;</entry>
	  </row>
	  
	  <row>	  
	    <entry><emphasis>Main CVSROOT</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry><filename>/home/ncvs</filename></entry>
	  </row>
	  
	  <row>
	    <entry><emphasis>Main &a.cvs;</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry>&a.peter; and &a.markm;, as well as &a.joe; for
	      <filename>ports/</filename></entry>
	  </row>
	  
	  <row>	  
	    <entry><emphasis>Mailing Lists</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry>&a.developers;, &a.committers;</entry>
	  </row>
	  
	  <row>	  
	    <entry><emphasis>Noteworthy CVS Tags</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry><literal>RELENG_4</literal> (4.x-STABLE), <literal>HEAD</literal> (-CURRENT)</entry>
	  </row>
	</tbody>
      </tgroup>
    </informaltable>
    
    <para>It is required that you use &man.ssh.1; or &man.telnet.1;
      with Kerberos 5 to connect to the repository hosts.  These are
      generally more secure than plain &man.telnet.1; or
      &man.rlogin.1; since credential negotiation will always be
      encrypted.  All traffic is encrypted by default with &man.ssh.1;.
      With utilities like &man.ssh-agent.1; and &man.scp.1; also
      available, &man.ssh.1; is also far more convenient.  If you do
      not know anything about &man.ssh.1;, please see
      <xref linkend="ssh.guide">.</para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="committer.types">
    <title>Commit Bit Types</title>

    <para>The FreeBSD CVS repository has a number of components which,
      when combined, support the basic operating system source,
      documentation, third party application ports infrastructure, and
      various maintained utilities.  When FreeBSD commit bits are
      allocated, the areas of the tree where the bit may be used are
      specified.  Generally, the areas associated with a bit reflect who
      authorized the allocation of the commit bit.  Additional areas of
      authority may be added at a later date: when this occurs, the
      committer should follow normal commit bit allocation procedures for
      that area of the tree, seeking approval from the appropriate entity
      and possibly getting a mentor for that area for some period of time.
      </para>

    <informaltable frame="none">
      <tgroup cols="3">
	<tbody>
	  <row>
	    <entry><emphasis>Committer Type</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry><emphasis>Responsible</emphasis></entry>
	    <entry><emphasis>Tree Components</emphasis></entry>
	  </row>

	  <row>
	    <entry>src</entry>
	    <entry>core@</entry>
	    <entry>src/, doc/ subject to appropriate review</entry>
	  </row>

	  <row>
	    <entry>doc</entry>
	    <entry>nik@</entry>
	    <entry>doc/, src/ documentation</entry>
	  </row>

	  <row>
	    <entry>ports</entry>
	    <entry>portmgr@</entry>
	    <entry>ports/</entry>
	  </row>
	</tbody>
      </tgroup>
    </informaltable>

    <para>Commit bits allocated prior to the development of the notion of
      areas of authority may be appropriate for use in many parts of the
      tree.  However, common sense dictates that a committer who has not
      previously worked in an area of the tree seek review prior to
      committing, seek approval from the appropriate responsible party,
      and/or work with a mentor.  Since the rules regarding code
      maintenance differ by area of the tree, this is as much for the
      benefit of the committer working in an area of less familiarity as
      it is for others working on the tree.</para>

    <para>Committers are encouraged to seek review for their work as part
      of the normal development process, regardless of the area of the
      tree where the work is occurring.</para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="cvs.operations">
    <title>CVS Operations</title>

    <para>It is assumed that you are already familiar with the basic operation 
      of CVS.</para>
    
    <para>The &a.cvs;
      are the <quote>owners</quote> of the CVS repository and are
      responsible for any and <emphasis>all</emphasis> direct
      modification of it for the purposes of cleanup or fixing some
      grievous abuse of CVS by a committer.  No one else should
      attempt to touch the repository directly.  Should you cause some
      repository accident, say a bad <command>cvs import</command> or <command>cvs tag</command> operation, do
      <emphasis role="bold">not</emphasis> attempt to fix it yourself!
      Mail the &a.cvs; (or call one of them) and report the problem to
      one of them instead.  The only ones allowed to directly fiddle
      the repository bits are the repomeisters.</para>

    <para>CVS operations are usually done by logging into
      <hostid>freefall</hostid>, making sure the
      <envar>CVSROOT</envar> environment variable is set to
      <filename>/home/ncvs</filename>, and then doing the appropriate
      check-out/check-in operations.  If you wish to add
      something which is wholly new (like contrib-ified
      sources, etc), a script called <filename>easy-import</filename> is
      also provided for making the process easier.  It automatically
      adds the new module entry, does the appropriate thing with
      <command>cvs import</command>, etc. &ndash; just run it without
      arguments and it will prompt you for everything it needs to
      know.</para>

    <para>Note that when you use CVS on <hostid>freefall</hostid>, you
      should set your <literal>umask</literal> to <literal>2</literal>,
      as well as setting the <envar>CVSUMASK</envar> environment
      variable to <literal>2</literal>.  This ensures that any new
      files created by <command>cvs add</command> will have the correct
      permissions.  If you add a file or directory and discover that the
      file in the repository has incorrect permissions (specifically,
      all files in the repository should be group writable by group
      <literal>ncvs</literal>), contact one of the repository meisters
      as described below.</para>

    <para>If you are familiar with remote CVS and consider yourself
      pretty studly with CVS in general, you can also do CVS
      operations directly from your own machine and local working
      sources. Just remember to set <envar>CVS_RSH</envar> to
      <literal>ssh</literal> so that you are using a relatively
      secure and reliable transport.  If you have no idea what any of
      the above even means, on the other hand, then please stick with
      logging into <hostid>freefall</hostid> and applying your diffs
      with &man.patch.1;.</para>

    <para>If you need to use CVS <command>add</command> and
      <command>delete</command> operations in a manner that is
      effectively a &man.mv.1; operation, then a repository
      copy is in order rather than using CVS <command>add</command> and
      <command>delete</command>.  In a repository copy, a <link
      linkend="conventions">CVS Meister</link> will copy the file(s)
      to their new name and/or location and let you know when it is
      done.  The purpose of a repository copy is to preserve file
      change history, or logs.  We in the FreeBSD Project greatly
      value the change history that CVS gives to the project.</para>

    <para>CVS reference information, tutorials, and FAQs can also be found at:
      <ulink
	url="http://www.cvshome.org/docs/">http://www.cvshome.org/docs/</ulink>, 
      and the information in <ulink url="http://cvsbook.red-bean.com/cvsbook.html">Karl Fogel's
        chapters from <quote>Open Source Development with CVS</quote></ulink> are also very
      useful.</para>

    <para>&a.des; also supplied the following <quote>mini primer</quote> for
      CVS.</para>

    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>Check out a module with the <command>co</command> or
	  <command>checkout</command> command.</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs checkout shazam</userinput></screen>

        <para>This checks out a copy of the <filename>shazam</filename> module. If
          there is no <filename>shazam</filename> module in the modules file, it looks for a
          top-level directory named <filename>shazam</filename> instead.</para>

        <table frame="none">
	  <title>Useful <command>cvs checkout</command> options</title>

          <tgroup cols=2>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry><option>-P</option></entry>
                <entry>Do not create empty directories</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-l</option></entry>
                <entry>Check out a single level, no subdirectories</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-r<replaceable>rev</replaceable></option></entry>
                <entry>Check out revision, branch or tag
                  <replaceable>rev</replaceable></entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-D<replaceable>date</replaceable></option></entry>
                <entry>Check out the sources as they were on date
                  <replaceable>date</replaceable></entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </table>

        <para>Practical FreeBSD examples:</para>

        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the <filename>miscfs</filename> module,
              which corresponds to <filename>src/sys/miscfs</filename>:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You now have a directory named <filename>miscfs</filename>
              with subdirectories <filename>CVS</filename>,
              <filename>deadfs</filename>, <filename>devfs</filename>, and so
              on.  One of these (<filename>linprocfs</filename>) is
              empty.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the same files, but with full path:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co src/sys/miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You now have a directory named <filename>src</filename>,
              with subdirectories <filename>CVS</filename> and
              <filename>sys</filename>.  <filename>src/sys</filename> has
              subdirectories <filename>CVS</filename> and
              <filename>miscfs</filename>, etc.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the same files, but prunes empty
              directories:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -P miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You now have a directory named
              <filename>miscfs</filename> with subdirectories
              <filename>CVS</filename>, <filename>deadfs</filename>,
              <filename>devfs</filename>... but note that there is no
              <filename>linprocfs</filename> subdirectory, because there
              are no files in it.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the directory <filename>miscfs</filename>, but
              none of the subdirectories:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -l miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You now have a directory named <filename>miscfs</filename>
              with just one subdirectory named
              <filename>CVS</filename>.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the <filename>miscfs</filename> module as
              it is in the 4.x branch:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -rRELENG_4 miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You can modify the sources and commit along this
              branch.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the <filename>miscfs</filename> module as
              it was in 3.4-RELEASE.</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -rRELENG_3_4_0_RELEASE miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You will not be able to commit modifications, since
              <literal>RELENG_3_4_0_RELEASE</literal> is a point in time, not a branch.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the <filename>miscfs</filename> module as it was
              on Jan 15 2000.</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -D'01/15/2000' miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You will not be able to commit modifications.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the <filename>miscfs</filename> module as it was
              one week ago.</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -D'last week' miscfs</userinput></screen>

            <para>You will not be able to commit modifications.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <para>Note that cvs stores metadata in subdirectories named
          <filename>CVS</filename>.</para>

        <para>Arguments to <option>-D</option> and <option>-r</option>
          are sticky, which means cvs will remember them later, e.g.
          when you do a <command>cvs update</command>.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Check the status of checked-out files with the
          <command>status</command> command.</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs status shazam</userinput></screen>

        <para>This displays the status of the
          <filename>shazam</filename> file or of every file in the
          <filename>shazam</filename> directory. For every file, the
          status is given as one of:</para>

        <informaltable frame="none">
          <tgroup cols=2>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry>Up-to-date</entry>
                <entry>File is up-to-date and unmodified.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>Needs Patch</entry>
                <entry>File is unmodified, but there is a newer revision in
                  the repository.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>Locally Modified</entry>
                <entry>File is up-to-date, but modified.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>Needs Merge</entry>
                <entry>File is modified, and there is a newer revision in the
                  repository.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry>File had conflicts on merge</entry>
                <entry>There were conflicts the last time this file was
                  updated, and they have not been resolved yet.</entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>

        <para>You will also see the local revision and date,
          the revision number of the newest applicable version
          (<quote>newest applicable</quote> because if you have a
          sticky date, tag or branch, it may not be the actual newest
          revision), and any sticky tags, dates or options.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Once you have checked something out, update it with the
          <command>update</command> command.</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs update shazam</userinput></screen>

        <para>This updates the <filename>shazam</filename> file or the
          contents of the <filename>shazam</filename> directory to the
          latest version along the branch you checked out.  If you
          checked out a <quote>point in time</quote>, does nothing
          unless the tags have moved in the repository or some other weird
          stuff is going on.</para>

        <para>Useful options, in addition to those listed above for
          <command>checkout</command>:</para>

        <informaltable frame="none">
          <tgroup cols=2>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry><option>-d</option></entry>
                <entry>Check out any additional missing directories.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-A</option></entry>
                <entry>Update to head of main branch.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-j<replaceable>rev</replaceable></option></entry>
                <entry>More magic (see below).</entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>

        <para>If you checked out a module with <option>-r</option> or
          <option>-D</option>, running <command>cvs update</command>
          with a different <option>-r</option> or <option>-D</option>
          argument or with <option>-A</option> will select a new branch,
          revision or date. The <option>-A</option> option clears all
          sticky tags, dates or revisions whereas <option>-r</option>
          and <option>-D</option> set new ones.</para>

        <para>Theoretically, specifying <literal>HEAD</literal> as
          argument to <option>-r</option> will give you the same result
          as <option>-A</option>, but that is just theory.</para>

        <para>The <option>-d</option> option is useful if:</para>

        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>somebody has added subdirectories to the module
              you have checked out after you checked it out.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>you checked out with <option>-l</option>, and later
              change your mind and want to check out the subdirectories
              as well.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>you deleted some subdirectories and want to check
              them all back out.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <para><emphasis>Watch the output of the <command>cvs
          update</command> with care.</emphasis> The letter in front of
          each filename indicates what was done with it:</para>

        <informaltable frame="none">
          <tgroup cols=2>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry><literal>U</literal></entry>
                <entry>The file was updated without trouble.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><literal>P</literal></entry>
                <entry>The file was updated without trouble (you will only see
                  this when working against a remote repo).</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><literal>M</literal></entry>
                <entry>The file had been modified, and was merged without
                  conflicts.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><literal>C</literal></entry>
                <entry>The file had been modified, and was merged with
                  conflicts.</entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </informaltable>

        <para>Merging is what happens if you check out a copy of
          some source code, modify it, then someone else commits a
          change, and you run <command>cvs update</command>. CVS notices
          that you have made local changes, and tries to merge your
          changes with the changes between the version you originally
          checked out and the one you updated to. If the changes are to
          separate portions of the file, it will almost always work fine
          (though the result might not be syntactically or semantically
          correct).</para>

        <para>CVS will print an <literal>M</literal> in front of every locally modified
          file even if there is no newer version in the repository, so
          <command>cvs update</command> is handy for getting a summary
          of what you have changed locally.</para>

        <para>If you get a <literal>C</literal>, then your changes
          conflicted with the changes in the repository (the changes
          were to the same lines, or neighboring lines, or you changed
          the local file so much that <command>cvs</command> can not
          figure out how to apply the repository's changes). You will have
          to go through the file manually and resolve the conflicts;
          they will be marked with rows of <literal>&lt;</literal>,
          <literal>=</literal> and <literal>&gt;</literal> signs. For
          every conflict, there will be a marker line with seven
          <literal>&lt;</literal> signs and the name of the file,
          followed by a chunk of what your local file contained,
          followed by a separator line with seven <literal>=</literal>
          signs, followed by the corresponding chunk in the
          repository version, followed by a marker line with seven
          <literal>&gt;</literal> signs and the revision number you
          updated to.</para>

        <para>The <option>-j</option> option is slightly voodoo. It
          updates the local file to the specified revision as if you
          used <option>-r</option>, but it does not change the recorded
          revision number or branch of the local file. It is not really
          useful except when used twice, in which case it will merge the
          changes between the two specified versions into the working
          copy.</para>

        <para>For instance, say you commit a change to
          <filename>shazam/shazam.c</filename> in &os.current; and later
          want to MFC it.  The change you want to MFC was revision
          1.15:</para>

        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>Check out the &os.stable; version of the
              <filename>shazam</filename> module:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs co -rRELENG_4 shazam</userinput></screen>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>Apply the changes between rev 1.14 and 1.15:</para>

            <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs update -j1.14 -j1.15 shazam/shazam.c</userinput></screen>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <para>You will almost certainly get a conflict because
          of the <literal>$Id: article.sgml,v 1.121 2002-05-13 22:00:39 imp Exp $</literal> (or in FreeBSD's case,
          <literal>$<!-- stop expansion -->FreeBSD<!-- stop expansion -->$</literal>) lines, so you will have to edit
          the file to resolve the conflict (remove the marker lines and
          the second <literal>$Id: article.sgml,v 1.121 2002-05-13 22:00:39 imp Exp $</literal> line, leaving the original
          <literal>$Id: article.sgml,v 1.121 2002-05-13 22:00:39 imp Exp $</literal> line intact).</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>View differences between the local version and the
          repository version with the <command>diff</command>
          command.</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs diff shazam</userinput></screen>

        <para>shows you every modification you have made to the
          <filename>shazam</filename> file or module.</para>

        <table frame="none">
	  <title>Useful <command>cvs diff</command> options</title>
	  
          <tgroup cols=2>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry><option>-u</option></entry>
                <entry>Uses the unified diff format.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-c</option></entry>
                <entry>Uses the context diff format.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-N</option></entry>
                <entry>Shows missing or added files.</entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </table>

        <para>You always want to use <option>-u</option>, since
          unified diffs are much easier to read than almost any other
          diff format (in some circumstances, context diffs generated with the <option>-c</option> option may be
          better, but they are much bulkier). A unified diff consists of
          a series of hunks. Each hunk begins with a line that starts
          with two <literal>@</literal> signs and specifies where in the
          file the differences are and how many lines they span. This
          is followed by a number of lines; some (preceded by a blank)
          are context; some (preceded by a <literal>-</literal> sign)
          are outtakes and some (preceded by a <literal>+</literal>) are
          additions.</para>

        <para>You can also diff against a different version
          than the one you checked out by specifying a version
          with <option>-r</option> or <option>-D</option> as in
          <command>checkout</command> or <command>update</command>,
          or even view the diffs between two arbitrary versions
          (without regard for what you have locally) by specifying
          <emphasis>two</emphasis> versions with <option>-r</option> or
          <option>-D</option>.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>View log entries with the <command>log</command>
          command.</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs log shazam</userinput></screen>

        <para>If <filename>shazam</filename> is a file, this will print a
          <emphasis>header</emphasis> with information about this file, such
          as where in the repository this file is stored, which revision is
          the <literal>HEAD</literal> for this file, what branches this file
          is in, and any tags that are valid for this file.  Then, for each
          revision of this file, a log message is printed.  This includes
          the date and time of the commit, who did the commit, how many lines
          were added and/or deleted, and finally the log message that the
          committer who did the change wrote.</para>

        <para>If <filename>shazam</filename> is a directory, then the log
          information described above is printed for each file in the
          directory in turn.  Unless you give the <option>-l</option> to
          <command>log</command>, the log for all subdirectories of
          <filename>shazam</filename> is printed too, in a recursive
          manner.</para>

        <para>Use the <command>log</command> command to view the history of
          one or more files, as it is stored in the CVS repository.  You can
          even use it to view the log message of a specific revision, if you
          add the <option>-r<replaceable>rev</replaceable></option> to the
          <command>log</command> command:</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs log -r1.2 shazam</userinput></screen>

        <para>This will print only the log message for revision
          <literal>1.2</literal> of file <filename>shazam</filename> if it is
          a file, or the log message for revision <literal>1.2</literal> of
          each file under <filename>shazam</filename> if it is a
          directory.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>See who did what with the <command>annotate</command> command.
          This command shows you each line of the specified file or
          files, along with which user most recently changed that
          line.</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs annotate shazam</userinput></screen>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Add new files with the <command>add</command> command.</para>

        <para>Create the file, <command>cvs add</command> it, then
          <command>cvs commit</command> it.</para>

        <para>Similarly, you can add new directories by creating them
          and then <command>cvs add</command>ing them. Note that you
          do not need to commit directories.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Remove obsolete files with the <command>remove</command> command.</para>

        <para>Remove the file, then <command>cvs rm</command> it, then
          <command>cvs commit</command> it.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Commit with the <command>commit</command> or
          <command>checkin</command> command.</para>

        <table frame="none">
	  <title>Useful <command>cvs commit</command> options</title>
	  
          <tgroup cols=2>
            <tbody>
              <row>
                <entry><option>-f</option></entry>
                <entry>Force a commit of an unmodified file.</entry>
              </row>

              <row>
                <entry><option>-m<replaceable>msg</replaceable></option></entry>
                <entry>Specify a commit message on the command line rather
                  than invoking an editor.</entry>
              </row>
            </tbody>
          </tgroup>
        </table>

        <para>Use the <option>-f</option> option if you realize that
          you left out important information from the commit message.</para>

        <para>Good commit messages are important. They tell others
          why you did the changes you did, not just right here and now,
          but months or years from now when someone wonders why some
          seemingly illogical or inefficient piece of code snuck into
          your source file. It is also an invaluable aid to deciding
          which changes to MFC and which not to MFC.</para>

	<para>Commit messages should be clear, concise and provide
	  a reasonable summary to give an indication of what was
	  changed and why.</para>

	<para>Commit messages should provide enough information to
	  enable a third party to decide if the change is relevant to
	  them and if they need to read the change itself.</para>

        <para>Avoid committing several unrelated changes in one go. It
          makes merging difficult, and also makes it harder to determine
          which change is the culprit if a bug crops up.</para>

        <para>Avoid committing style or whitespace fixes and
          functionality fixes in one go. It makes merging difficult,
          and also makes it harder to understand just what functional
          changes were made.  In the case of documentation files, it
          can make the job of the translation teams more complicated,
          as it becomes difficult for them to determine exactly what
          content changes need to be translated.</para>

        <para>Avoid committing changes to multiple files in one go
          with a generic, vague message. Instead, commit each file (or
          small, related groups of files) with tailored commit messages.</para>

        <para>Before committing, <emphasis>always</emphasis>:</para>

        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>verify which branch you are committing to, using
              <command>cvs status</command>.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>review your diffs, using
              <command>cvs diff</command></para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <para>Also, ALWAYS specify which files to commit explicitly on
          the command line, so you do not accidentally commit other files
          than the ones you intended - <command>cvs commit</command>
          without any arguments will commit every modification in your
          current working directory and every subdirectory.</para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>

    <para>Additional tips and tricks:</para>

    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>

        <para>You can place commonly used options in your
          <filename>~/.cvsrc</filename>, like this:</para>

        <programlisting>cvs -z3
diff -Nu
update -Pd
checkout -P</programlisting>

        <para>This example says:</para>

        <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para>always use compression level 3 when talking to a
              remote server. This is a life-saver when working over a
              slow connection.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>always use the <option>-N</option> (show added or
              removed files) and <option>-u</option> (unified diff
              format) options to &man.diff.1;.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>always use the <option>-P</option> (prune empty
              directories) and <option>-d</option> (check out new
              directories) options when updating.</para>
          </listitem>

          <listitem>
            <para>always use the <option>-P</option> (prune empty
              directories) option when checking out.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Use Eivind Eklund's <command>cdiff</command> script to
          view unidiffs.  It is a wrapper for &man.less.1; that adds ANSI
          color codes to make hunk headers, outtakes and additions stand
          out; context and garbage are unmodified.  It also expands tabs
          properly (tabs often look wrong in diffs because of the extra
          character in front of each line).</para>

        <para><ulink url="http://people.FreeBSD.org/~eivind/cdiff">http://people.FreeBSD.org/~eivind/cdiff</ulink></para>

        <para>Simply use it instead of &man.more.1; or &man.less.1;:</para>

        <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs diff -Nu shazam | cdiff</userinput></screen>

	<para>Alternatively some editors like &man.vim.1;
	  (<filename role="package">editors/vim5</filename>) have color support and when used as
	  a pager with color syntax highlighting switched on will
	  highlight many types of file, including diffs, patches,
	  and cvs/rcs logs. </para>

	<screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>echo "syn on" &gt;&gt; ~/.vimrc </userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs diff -Nu shazam | vim -</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs log shazam | vim -</userinput> </screen>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>CVS is old, arcane, crufty and buggy, and sometimes
          exhibits non-deterministic behavior which some claim as proof
          that it is actually merely the Newtonian manifestation of a
          sentient transdimensional entity.  It is not humanly possible
          to know its every quirk inside out, so do not be afraid to ask
          the resident AI (&a.cvs;) for help.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Do not leave the <command>cvs commit</command> command in commit
          message editing mode for too long (more than 2&ndash;3 minutes).  It
          locks the directory you are working with and will prevent other
          developers from committing into the same directory.  If you have
          to type a long commit message, type it before executing
          <command>cvs commit</command>, and insert it into the commit
          message.</para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>

  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="conventions">
    <title>Conventions and Traditions</title>

    <para>As a new committer there are a number of things you should do
      first.</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
	<para>Add yourself to the <quote>Developers</quote> section of
	  the <ulink url="../contributors/index.html">Contributors List</ulink>
	  and remove yourself from the <quote>Additional
	  Contributors</quote> section.</para>

	<para>This is a relatively easy task, but remains a good first test of 
	  your CVS skills.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Add an entry for yourself to
	  <filename>www/en/news/news.xml</filename>. Look for the other
	  entries that look like <quote>A new committer</quote> and follow the
	  format.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>If you have a PGP or GnuPG key, you may want to add it to
	  <filename>doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/pgpkeys</filename>.
	  </para>

	<para>&a.des; has
	  written a shell script to make this extremely simple.  See the
	  <ulink
	  url="http://cvsweb.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/pgpkeys/README">README</ulink>
	  file for more information.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Some people add an entry for themselves to
	  <filename>ports/astro/xearth/files/freebsd.committers.markers</filename>.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Some people add an entry for themselves to <filename>src/usr.bin/calendar/calendars/calendar.freebsd</filename>.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Introduce yourself to the other committers, otherwise no one
	  will have any idea who you are or what you are working on.  You do
	  not have to write a comprehensive biography, just write a paragraph
	  or two about who you are and what you plan to be working on as a
	  committer in FreeBSD.  Email this to the &a.developers; and you will
	  be on your way!</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Log into <hostid>hub.FreeBSD.org</hostid> and create a
	  <filename>/var/forward/<replaceable>user</replaceable></filename>
	  (where <replaceable>user</replaceable> is your username) file
	  containing the e-mail address where you want mail addressed to
	  <replaceable>yourusername</replaceable>@FreeBSD.org to be forwarded.
	  This includes all of the commit messages as well as any other mail
	  addressed to the &a.committers; and &a.developers;.  Really
	  large mailboxes which have taken up permanent residence on
	  <hostid>hub</hostid> often get <quote>accidentally</quote> truncated
	  without warning, so forward it or read it and you will not lose
	  it.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>If you are subscribed to the &a.cvsall;, you will
	  probably want to unsubscribe to avoid receiving duplicate
	  copies of commit messages and their followups.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
    
    <para>All new committers also have a mentor assigned to them for
      the first few months.  Your mentor is more or less responsible for
      explaining anything which is confusing to you and is also
      responsible for your actions during this initial period.  If you
      make a bogus commit, it is only going to embarrass your mentor
      and you should probably make it a policy to pass at least your
      first few commits by your mentor before committing it to the
      repository.</para>

    <para>All commits should go to &os.current; first
      before being merged to &os.stable;.  No major new
      features or high-risk modifications should be made to the
      &os.stable; branch.</para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="developer.relations">
    <title>Developer Relations</title>

    <para>If you are working directly on your own code or on code
      which is already well established as your responsibility, then
      there is probably little need to check with other committers
      before jumping in with a commit.  If you see a bug in an area of
      the system which is clearly orphaned (and there are a few such
      areas, to our shame), the same applies.  If, however, you are
      about to modify something which is clearly being actively
      maintained by someone else (and it is only by watching the
      <literal>cvs-committers</literal> mailing list that you can
      really get a feel for just what is and is not) then consider
      sending the change to them instead, just as you would have
      before becoming a committer.  For ports, you should contact the
      listed <makevar>MAINTAINER</makevar> in the
      <filename>Makefile</filename>.  For other parts of the
      repository, if you are unsure who the active maintainer might
      be, it may help to scan the output of <command>cvs log</command>
      to see who has committed changes in the past.  &a.fenner; has
      written a nice shell script that can help determine who the
      active maintainer might be.  It lists each person who has
      committed to a given file along with the number of commits each
      person has made.  It can be found on <hostid>freefall</hostid>
      at <filename>~fenner/bin/whodid</filename>.  If your queries go
      unanswered or the committer otherwise indicates a lack of
      proprietary interest in the area affected, go ahead and commit
      it.</para>

    <para>If you are unsure about a commit for any reason at
      all, have it reviewed by <literal>-hackers</literal>
      before committing.  Better to have it flamed then and there
      rather than when it is part of the CVS repository.  If you do
      happen to commit something which results in controversy
      erupting, you may also wish to consider backing the change out
      again until the matter is settled.  Remember &ndash; with CVS we
      can always change it back.</para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="gnats">
    <title>GNATS</title>

    <para>The FreeBSD Project utilizes
      <application>GNATS</application> for tracking bugs and change
      requests.  Be sure that if you commit a fix or suggestion found
      in a <application>GNATS</application> PR, you use
      <command>edit-pr <replaceable>pr-number</replaceable></command>
      on <hostid>freefall</hostid> to close it.  It is also considered
      nice if you take time to close any PRs associated with your
      commits, if appropriate.  You can also make use of
      &man.send-pr.1; yourself for proposing any change which you feel
      should probably be made, pending a more extensive peer-review
      first.</para>

    <para>You can find out more about <application>GNATS</application>
      at:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
	<para><ulink url="http://www.cs.utah.edu/csinfo/texinfo/gnats/gnats.html">http://www.cs.utah.edu/csinfo/texinfo/gnats/gnats.html</ulink></para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para><ulink url="../../../../support.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html</ulink></para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para><ulink url="../../../../send-pr.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/send-pr.html</ulink></para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>&man.send-pr.1;</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>You can run a local copy of GNATS, and then integrate the FreeBSD
      GNATS tree in to it using CVSup.  Then you can run GNATS commands
      locally, or use other interfaces, such as <command>tkgnats</command>.
      This lets you query the PR database without needing to be connected to
      the Internet.</para>

    <procedure>
      <title>Using a local GNATS tree</title>

      <step>
	<para>If you are not already downloading the GNATS tree, add this line 
	  to your <filename>supfile</filename>, and re-sup. Note that since
	  GNATS is not under CVS control it has no tag, so if you are adding
	  it to your existing <filename>supfile</filename> it should appear
	  before any <quote>tag=</quote> entry as these remain active once set.
	</para>

	<programlisting>gnats release=current prefix=/usr</programlisting>

	<para>This will place the FreeBSD GNATS tree in
	  <filename>/usr/gnats</filename>.  You can use a
	  <emphasis>refuse</emphasis> file to control which categories to
	  receive.  For example, to only receive <literal>docs</literal> PRs,
	  put this line in
	  <filename>/usr/local/etc/cvsup/sup/refuse</filename><footnote>
	    <para>The precise path depends on the <literal>*default
		base</literal> setting in your
	      <filename>supfile</filename>.</para>
	  </footnote>.</para>

	<programlisting>gnats/[a-ce-z]*</programlisting>

	<para>The rest of these examples assume you have only supped the
	  <literal>docs</literal> category.  Adjust them as necessary,
	  depending on the categories you are synching.</para>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Install the GNATS port from
	  <filename>ports/databases/gnats</filename>.  This will place the
	  various GNATS directories under
	  <filename>$PREFIX/share/gnats</filename>.</para>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Symlink the GNATS directories you are supping under the version
	  of GNATS you have installed.</para>

	<screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>cd /usr/local/share/gnats/gnats-db</userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>ln -s /usr/gnats/docs</userinput></screen>

	<para>Repeat as necessary, depending on how many GNATS categories you
	  are synching.</para>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Update the GNATS <filename>categories</filename> file with these
	  categories.  The file is
	  <filename>$PREFIX/share/gnats/gnats-db/gnats-adm/categories</filename>.</para>

	<programlisting># This category is mandatory
pending:Category for faulty PRs:gnats-admin:
#
# FreeBSD categories
#
docs:Documentation Bug:nik:</programlisting>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Run <filename>$PREFIX/libexec/gnats/gen-index</filename> to
	  recreate the GNATS index.  The output has to be redirected to
	  <filename>$PREFIX/share/gnats/gnats-db/gnats-adm/index</filename>.
	  You can do this periodically from &man.cron.8;, or run &man.cvsup.1; 
	  from a shell script that does this as well.</para>

	<screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>/usr/local/libexec/gnats/gen-index \
        > /usr/local/share/gnats/gnats-db/gnats-adm/index</userinput></screen>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Test the configuration by querying the PR database.  This
	  command shows open <literal>docs</literal> PRs.</para>

	<screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>query-pr -c docs -s open</userinput></screen>

	<para>Other interfaces, such as that provided by the
	  <filename role="package">databases/tkgnats</filename> port should also work
	  nicely.</para>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Pick a PR and close it.</para>
      </step>
    </procedure>

    <note>
      <para>This procedure only works to allow you to view and query the PRs
	locally.  To edit or close them you will still have to log in to
	<hostid>freefall</hostid> and do it from there.</para>
    </note>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="people">
    <title>Who's Who</title>

    <para>Besides the repository
    meisters, there are other FreeBSD project members and teams whom you will
    probably get to know in your role as a committer.  Briefly,
    and by no means all-inclusively, these are:</para>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.jhb;</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>John is the manager of the SMPng Project, and has
	    authority over the architectural design and implementation
	    of the move to fine-grained kernel threading and locking.
	    He's also the editor of the SMPng Architecture Document.
	    If you're working on fine-grained SMP and locking, please
	    coordinate with John.  You can learn more about the
	    SMPng Project on its home page: <ulink
	    url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/smp/">
	    http://www.FreeBSD.org/smp/</ulink></para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.jake;, &a.tmm;</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Jake and Thomas are the maintainers of the sparc64 hardware
	    port.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.nik;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>Nik oversees the
	    <ulink url="../../../../docproj/index.html">Documentation Project</ulink>.
	    As well as writing documentation he put together the
	    infrastructure under <filename>doc/share/mk</filename> and the
	    stylesheets and related code under
	    <filename>doc/share/sgml</filename>.  If you have questions
	    about these you are encouraged to send them via the &a.doc;.
	    Committers interested in contributing to the documentation should
	    familiarize themselves with the
	    <ulink url="../../books/fdp-primer/index.html">Documentation Project Primer</ulink>.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      
      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.ru;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>Ruslan is Mister &man.mdoc.7;.  If you are writing a
	    man page and need
	    some advice on the structure, or the markup, ask Ruslan.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.bde;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>Bruce is the Style Police-Meister.
	    When you do a commit that could have been done better,
	    Bruce will be there to tell you.  Be thankful that someone
	    is.  Bruce is also very knowledgeable on the various
	    standards applicable to FreeBSD.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.gallatin;</term>
	<term>&a.mjacob;</term>
	<term>&a.dfr;</term>
	<term>&a.obrien;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>These are the primary developers and overseers of the
	  DEC Alpha AXP platform.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.dg;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>David is the overseer of the
	    VM system.  If you have a VM system change in mind,
	    coordinate it with David.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.murray;</term>
	<term>&a.steve;</term>
	<term>&a.rwatson;</term>
	<term>&a.jhb;</term>
	<term>&a.bmah;</term>

        <listitem>
          <para>These are the members of the &a.re;.  This team is
            responsible for setting release deadlines and controlling
            the release process.  During code freezes, the release
            engineers have final authority on all changes to the
            system for whichever branch is pending release status.  If
            there is something you want merged from &os.current; to
            &os.stable; (whatever values those may have at any given
            time), these are the people to talk to about it.</para>

	  <para>Bruce is also the keeper of the release documentation
	    (<filename>src/release/doc/*</filename>).  If you commit a
	    change that you think is worthy of mention in the release notes,
	    please make sure Bruce knows about it.  Better still, send him
	    a patch with your suggested commentary.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.benno;</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Benno is the official maintainer of the PowerPC port.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.brian;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>Official maintainer of
	    <filename>/usr/sbin/ppp</filename>.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term>&a.nectar;</term>

        <listitem>
          <para>Jacques is the 
          <ulink url="../../../../security/">FreeBSD Security 
          Officer</ulink> 
          and oversees the &a.security-officer;.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
 
      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.wollman;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>If you need advice on obscure network internals or
	    are not sure of some potential change to the networking
	    subsystem you have in mind, Garrett is someone to talk
	    to.  Garrett is also very knowledgeable on the various
	    standards applicable to FreeBSD.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.committers;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>cvs-committers is the entity that CVS uses to send you all your
	    commit messages.  You should <emphasis>never</emphasis> send email
	    directly to this list.  You should only send replies to this list
	    when they are short and are directly related to a commit.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>&a.developers;</term>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>developers is all committers.  This list was created to be a
	    forum for the committers <quote>community</quote> issues.
	    Examples are Core
	    voting, announcements, etc.  This list is
	    <emphasis>not</emphasis> intended as a place for code reviews or a
	    replacement for the &a.arch; or the &a.audit;.  In fact
	    using it as such hurts the FreeBSD Project as it gives a sense of a
	    closed list where general decisions affecting all of the FreeBSD
	    using community are made without being <quote>open</quote>.
	    Last, but not least <emphasis>never, never ever, email
	    developers@FreeBSD.org and CC:/BCC: another FreeBSD list</emphasis>.
	    Never, ever email another FreeBSD email list and CC:/BCC:
	    developers@FreeBSD.org.  Doing so can greatly diminish the benefits
	    of this list.
			</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="ssh.guide">
    <title>SSH Quick-Start Guide</title>

    <procedure>
      <step>
	<para>If you are using FreeBSD 4.0 or later,
	  OpenSSH is included in the base system.
	  If you are using an earlier release,
	  update and install one of the SSH ports.  In general,
	  you will probably want to get OpenSSH from the
	  <filename role="package">security/openssh</filename> port.  You
	  may also wish to check out the original ssh1 in the
	  <filename role="package">security/ssh</filename> port, but make
	  certain you pay attention to its license.  Note that both
	  of these ports cannot be installed at the same time.</para>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>If you do not wish to type your password in every
	  time you use &man.ssh.1;, and you use RSA or DSA keys to
	  authenticate, &man.ssh-agent.1; is there for your
	  convenience.  If you want to use &man.ssh-agent.1;, make
	  sure that you run it before running other applications.  X
	  users, for example, usually do this from their
	  <filename>.xsession</filename> or
	  <filename>.xinitrc</filename> file.  See &man.ssh-agent.1;
	  for details.</para>
      </step>
      
      <step>
	<para>Generate a key pair using &man.ssh-keygen.1;.  The key
	  pair will wind up in your
	  <filename><envar>$HOME</envar>/.ssh</filename>
	  directory.</para>
      </step>

      <step>
	<para>Send your public key
	  (<filename><envar>$HOME</envar>/.ssh/identity.pub</filename>)
	  to the person setting you up as a committer so it can be put
	  into your <filename>authorized_keys</filename> file in your
	  home directory on <hostid>freefall</hostid>
	  (i.e.
	  <filename><envar>$HOME</envar>/.ssh/authorized_keys</filename>).
	</para>
      </step>
    </procedure>
    
    <para>Now you should be able to use &man.ssh-add.1; for
      authentication once per session.  This will prompt you for
      your private key's pass phrase, and then store it in your
      authentication agent (&man.ssh-agent.1;).  If you no longer
      wish to have your key stored in the agent, issuing
      <command>ssh-add -d</command> will remove it.</para>
    
    <para>Test by doing something such as <command>ssh
	freefall.FreeBSD.org ls /usr</command>.</para>

    <para>For more information, see
      <filename role="package">security/openssh</filename>, &man.ssh.1;,
      &man.ssh-add.1;, &man.ssh-agent.1;, &man.ssh-keygen.1;, and
      &man.scp.1;.</para>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="rules">
    <title>The FreeBSD Committers' Big List of Rules</title>

    <orderedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>Respect other committers.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Respect other contributors.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Discuss any significant change
	  <emphasis>before</emphasis> committing.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Respect existing maintainers (if listed in the
	  <makevar>MAINTAINER</makevar> field in
	  <filename>Makefile</filename> or in the
	  <filename>MAINTAINER</filename> file in the top-level
	  directory).</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Never touch the repository directly.  Ask a
	  Repomeister.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Any disputed change must be backed out pending
	  resolution of the dispute if requested by a maintainer.
	  Security related changes may
	  override a maintainer's wishes at the Security Officer's
	  discretion.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Changes go to &os.current; before
	  &os.stable; unless specifically permitted by
	  the release engineer or unless they are not applicable to
	  &os.current;.  Any non-trivial or non-urgent
	  change which is applicable should also be allowed to sit in
	  &os.current; for at least 3 days before
	  merging so that it can be given sufficient testing.  The
	  release engineer has the same authority over the
	  &os.stable; branch as outlined for the
	  maintainer in rule #6.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Do not fight in public with other committers; it looks
	  bad.  If you must <quote>strongly disagree</quote> about
	  something, do so only in private.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Respect all code freezes and read the
	  <literal>committers</literal> and <literal>developers</literal> mailing lists in a timely manner
	  so you know when a code freeze is in effect.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>When in doubt on any procedure, ask first!</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Test your changes before committing them.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
	<para>Do not commit to anything under the
	  <filename>src/contrib</filename>,
	  <filename>src/crypto</filename>, and
	  <filename>src/sys/contrib</filename> trees without
	  <emphasis>explicit</emphasis> approval from the respective
	  maintainer(s).</para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>

    <para>As noted, breaking some of these rules can be grounds for
      suspension or, upon repeated offense, permanent removal of
      commit privileges.  Individual members of core
      have the power to temporarily suspend commit privileges until
      core as a whole has the chance to review the
      issue.  In case of an <quote>emergency</quote> (a committer
      doing damage to the repository), a temporary suspension may also
      be done by the repository meisters.
      Only a 2/3 majority of core
      has the authority to suspend commit privileges for longer
      than a week or to remove them permanently.
      This rule does not exist to set core up as a bunch
      of cruel dictators who can dispose of committers as casually as
      empty soda cans, but to give the project a kind of safety fuse.
      If someone is out of control, it is important to be
      able to deal with this immediately rather than be paralyzed by
      debate.  In all cases, a committer whose privileges are
      suspended or revoked is entitled to a <quote>hearing</quote> by core,
      the total duration of the suspension being determined at that
      time.  A committer whose privileges are suspended may also
      request a review of the decision after 30 days and every 30 days
      thereafter (unless the total suspension period is less than 30
      days).  A committer whose privileges have been revoked entirely
      may request a review after a period of 6 months have elapsed.
      This review policy is <emphasis>strictly informal</emphasis>
      and, in all cases, core reserves the right to either act on or
      disregard requests for review if they feel their original
      decision to be the right one.</para>
    
    <para>In all other aspects of project operation, core is a subset
      of committers and is bound by the <emphasis>same
      rules</emphasis>.  Just because someone is in core does not mean
      that they have special dispensation to step outside of any of
      the lines painted here; core's <quote>special powers</quote>
      only kick in when it acts as a group, not on an individual
      basis.  As individuals, the core team members are all committers first and core
      second.</para>
    
    <sect2>
      <title>Details</title>

      <orderedlist>
	<listitem id="respect">
	  <para>Respect other committers.</para>

	  <para>This means that you need to treat other committers as
	    the peer-group developers that they are.  Despite our
	    occasional attempts to prove the contrary, one does not get
	    to be a committer by being stupid and nothing rankles more
	    than being treated that way by one of your peers.  Whether
	    we always feel respect for one another or not (and
	    everyone has off days), we still have to
	    <emphasis>treat</emphasis> other committers with respect
	    at all times or the whole team structure rapidly breaks
	    down.</para>
	  
	  <para>Being able to work together long term is this project's
	    greatest asset, one far more important than any set of
	    changes to the code, and turning arguments about code into
	    issues that affect our long-term ability to work
	    harmoniously together is just not worth the trade-off by
	    any conceivable stretch of the imagination.</para>
	  
	  <para>To comply with this rule, do not send email when you are
	    angry or otherwise behave in a manner which is likely to
	    strike others as needlessly confrontational.  First calm
	    down, then think about how to communicate in the most
	    effective fashion for convincing the other person(s) that
	    your side of the argument is correct, do not just blow off
	    some steam so you can feel better in the short term at the
	    cost of a long-term flame war.  Not only is this very bad
	    <quote>energy economics</quote>, but repeated displays of
	    public aggression which impair our ability to work well
	    together will be dealt with severely by the project
	    leadership and may result in suspension or termination of
	    your commit privileges.  That is never an option which the
	    project's leadership enjoys in the slightest, but unity
	    comes first.  No amount of code or good advice is worth
	    trading that away.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Respect other contributors.</para>

	  <para>You were not always a committer. At one time you were 
	    a contributor. Remember that at all times. Remember what 
	    it was like trying to get help and attention.  Do not forget
	    that your work as a contributor was very important to 
	    you.  Remember what it was like. Do not discourage, belittle, 
	    or demean contributors.  Treat them with respect.  They are 
	    our committers in waiting.  They are every bit as important 
	    to the project as committers. Their contributions are as 
	    valid and as important as your own.  After all, you made 
	    many contributions before you became a committer.  Always 
	    remember that.  </para>

	  <para>Consider the points raised under <xref linkend="respect">
	    and apply them also to contributors.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Discuss any significant change
	    <emphasis>before</emphasis> committing.</para>
	  
	  <para>The CVS repository is not where changes should be
	    initially submitted for correctness or argued over, that
	    should happen first in the mailing lists and then
	    committed only once something resembling consensus has
	    been reached.  This does not mean that you have to ask
	    permission before correcting every obvious syntax error or
	    man page misspelling, simply that you should try to
	    develop a feel for when a proposed change is not quite such
	    a no-brainer and requires some feedback first.  People
	    really do not mind sweeping changes if the result is
	    something clearly better than what they had before, they
	    just do not like being <emphasis>surprised</emphasis> by
	    those changes.  The very best way of making sure that
	    you are on the right track is to have your code reviewed by
	    one or more other committers.</para>

	  <para>When in doubt, ask for review!</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Respect existing maintainers if listed.</para>

	  <para>Many parts of FreeBSD are not <quote>owned</quote> in
	    the sense that any specific individual will jump up and
	    yell if you commit a change to <quote>their</quote> area,
	    but it still pays to check first.  One convention we use
	    is to put a maintainer line in the
	    <filename>Makefile</filename> for any package or subtree
	    which is being actively maintained by one or more people;
	    see <ulink
	    url="../../books/developers-handbook/policies.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/developers-handbook/policies.html</ulink>
	    for documentation on this.  Where sections of code have
	    several maintainers, commits to affected areas by one
	    maintainer need to be reviewed by at least one other
	    maintainer.  In cases where the
	    <quote>maintainer-ship</quote> of something is not clear,
	    you can also look at the CVS logs for the file(s) in
	    question and see if someone has been working recently or
	    predominantly in that area.</para>

	  <para>Other areas of FreeBSD fall under the control of
	    someone who manages an overall category of FreeBSD
	    evolution, such as internationalization or networking.
	    See <ulink
	    url="../contributors/article.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/contributors/staff-who.html</ulink> for more information on this.</para>
	</listitem>
	
	<listitem>
	  <para>Never touch the repository directly.  Ask a
	    Repomeister.</para>

	  <para>This is pretty clear - you are not allowed to make
	    direct modifications to the CVS repository, period.  In
	    case of difficulty, ask one of the repository meisters by
	    sending mail to the &a.cvs; and simply
	    wait for them to fix the problem and get back to you. Do
	    not attempt to fix the problem yourself!</para>
	  
	  <para>If you are thinking about putting down a tag or doing a
	    new import of code on a vendor branch, you might also find
	    it useful to ask for advice first.  A lot of people get
	    this wrong the first few times and the consequences are
	    expensive in terms of files touched and angry CVSup/CTM
	    folks who are suddenly getting a lot of changes sent over
	    unnecessarily.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Any disputed change must be backed out pending
	    resolution of the dispute if requested by a maintainer.
	    Security related changes may
	    override a maintainer's wishes at the Security Officer's
	    discretion.</para>
	  
	  <para>This may be hard to swallow in times of conflict (when
	    each side is convinced that they are in the right, of
	    course) but CVS makes it unnecessary to have an ongoing
	    dispute raging when it is far easier to simply reverse the
	    disputed change, get everyone calmed down again and then
	    try to figure out what is the best way to proceed.  If the change
	    turns out to be the best thing after all, it can be easily
	    brought back. If it turns out not to be, then the users
	    did not have to live with the bogus change in the tree
	    while everyone was busily debating its merits.  People
	    very very rarely call for back-outs in the repository
	    since discussion generally exposes bad or controversial
	    changes before the commit even happens, but on such rare
	    occasions the back-out should be done without argument so
	    that we can get immediately on to the topic of figuring
	    out whether it was bogus or not.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Changes go to &os.current; before
	    &os.stable; unless specifically permitted
	    by the release engineer or unless they are not applicable
	    to &os.current;.  Any non-trivial or
	    non-urgent change which is applicable should also be
	    allowed to sit in &os.current; for at least
	    3 days before merging so that it can be given sufficient
	    testing.  The release engineer has the same authority over
	    the &os.stable; branch as outlined in rule
	    #6.</para>
	
	  <para>This is another <quote>do not argue about it</quote>
	    issue since it is the release engineer who is ultimately
	    responsible (and gets beaten up) if a change turns out to
	    be bad.  Please respect this and give the release engineer
	    your full cooperation when it comes to the
	    &os.stable; branch.  The management of
	    &os.stable; may frequently seem to be
	    overly conservative to the casual observer, but also bear
	    in mind the fact that conservatism is supposed to be the
	    hallmark of &os.stable; and different rules
	    apply there than in &os.current;.  There is
	    also really no point in having &os.current;
	    be a testing ground if changes are merged over to
	    &os.stable; immediately.  Changes need a
	    chance to be tested by the &os.current;
	    developers, so allow some time to elapse before merging
	    unless the &os.stable; fix is critical,
	    time sensitive or so obvious as to make further testing
	    unnecessary (spelling fixes to man pages, obvious bug/typo
	    fixes, etc.)  In other words, apply common sense.</para>

	  <para>Changes to the security branches
	    (for example, <literal>RELENG_4_5</literal>) must be
	    approved by a member of the &a.security-officer;, or in
	    some cases, by a member of the &a.re;.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Do not fight in public with other committers; it looks
	    bad.  If you must <quote>strongly disagree</quote> about
	    something, do so only in private.</para>
	  
	  <para>This project has a public image to uphold and that
	    image is very important to all of us, especially if we are
	    to continue to attract new members.  There will be
	    occasions when, despite everyone's very best attempts at
	    self-control, tempers are lost and angry words are
	    exchanged.  The best thing that can be done in such cases is to minimize the
	    effects of this until everyone has cooled back down.  That
	    means that you should not air your angry words in public
	    and you should not forward private correspondence to
	    public mailing lists or aliases.  What people say
	    one-to-one is often much less sugar-coated than what they
	    would say in public, and such communications therefore
	    have no place there - they only serve to inflame an
	    already bad situation. If the person sending you a
	    flame-o-gram at least had the grace to send it privately,
	    then have the grace to keep it private yourself.  If you
	    feel you are being unfairly treated by another developer,
	    and it is causing you anguish, bring the matter up with
	    core rather than taking it public.  Core will do its best to
	    play peace makers and get things back to sanity.  In cases
	    where the dispute involves a change to the codebase and
	    the participants do not appear to be reaching an amicable
	    agreement, core may appoint a mutually-agreeable 3rd party
	    to resolve the dispute.  All parties involved must then
	    agree to be bound by the decision reached by this 3rd
	    party.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Respect all code freezes and read the
	    <literal>committers</literal> and <literal>developers</literal> mailing list on a timely
	    basis so you know when a code freeze is in effect.</para>
	  
	  <para>Committing unapproved changes during a code freeze is a really
	    big mistake and committers are expected to keep up-to-date
	    on what is going on before jumping in after a long absence
	    and committing 10 megabytes worth of accumulated stuff.
	    People who abuse this on a regular basis will have their
	    commit privileges suspended until they get back from the
	    FreeBSD Happy Reeducation Camp we run in Greenland.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>When in doubt on any procedure, ask first!</para>

	  <para>Many mistakes are made because someone is in a hurry
	    and just assumes they know the right way of doing
	    something.  If you have not done it before, chances are
	    good that you do not actually know the way we do things
	    and really need to ask first or you are going to
	    completely embarrass yourself in public.  There is no shame
	    in asking <quote>how in the heck do I do this?</quote> We
	    already know you are an intelligent person; otherwise, you
	    would not be a committer.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Test your changes before committing them.</para>
	  
	  <para>This may sound obvious, but if it really were so
	    obvious then we probably would not see so many cases of
	    people clearly not doing this.  If your changes are to the
	    kernel, make sure you can still compile both GENERIC and
	    LINT.  If your changes are anywhere else, make sure you
	    can still make world.  If your changes are to a branch,
	    make sure your testing occurs with a machine which is
	    running that code.  If you have a change which also may
	    break another architecture, be sure and test on all
	    supported architectures.  Currently, this is only the x86
	    and the Alpha so it is pretty easy to do.  If you need to
	    test on the AXP, your account on <hostid
	    role="fqdn">beast.FreeBSD.org</hostid> will let you
	    compile and test Alpha binaries/kernels/etc.  As other
	    architectures are added to the FreeBSD supported platforms
	    list, the appropriate shared testing resources will be
	    made available.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>Do not commit to anything under the
	    <filename>src/contrib</filename>,
	    <filename>src/crypto</filename>, and
	    <filename>src/sys/contrib</filename> trees without
	    <emphasis>explicit</emphasis> approval from the respective
	    maintainer(s).</para>

	  <para>The trees mentioned above are for contributed software
	    usually imported onto a vendor branch.  Committing something
	    there, even if it does not take the file off the vendor branch,
	    may cause unnecessary headaches for those responsible for
	    maintaining that particular piece of software.  Thus, unless
	    you have <emphasis>explicit</emphasis> approval from the
	    maintainer (or you are the maintainer), do
	    <emphasis>not</emphasis> commit there!</para>

	  <para>Please note that this does not mean you should not try to
	    improve the software in question; you are still more than
	    welcome to do so.  Ideally, you should submit your patches to
	    the vendor.  If your changes are FreeBSD-specific, talk to the
	    maintainer; they may be willing to apply them locally.  But
	    whatever you do, do <emphasis>not</emphasis> commit there by
	    yourself!</para>

	  <para>Contact the &a.core; if you wish to take up maintainership
	    of an unmaintained part of the tree.</para>
	</listitem>
      </orderedlist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Other Suggestions</title>

      <para>When committing documentation changes, use a spell checker
	before committing.  For all SGML docs, you should also
	verify that your formatting directives are correct by running
	<command>make lint</command>.</para>

      <para>For all on-line manual pages, run <command>manck</command>
	(from ports) over the man page to verify all of the cross
	references and file references are correct and that the man
	page has all of the appropriate <makevar>MLINK</makevar>s
	installed.</para>

      <para>Do not mix style fixes with new functionality.  A style
	fix is any change which does not modify the functionality of
	the code.  Mixing the changes obfuscates the functionality
	change when using <command>cvs diff</command>, which can hide
	any new bugs.  Do not include whitespace changes with content
	changes in commits to <filename>doc/</filename> or
	<filename>www/</filename>.  The extra clutter in the diffs
	makes the translators' job much more difficult.  Instead, make
	any style or whitespace changes in separate commits that are
	clearly labeled as such in the commit message.</para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2>
      <title>Deprecating Features</title>

      <para>When it is necessary to remove functionality from software
	in the base system the following guidelines should be followed
	whenever possible:</para>

      <orderedlist>
	<listitem>
	  <para>Mention is made in the manual page and possibly the
	    release notes that the option, utility, or interface is
	    deprecated.  Use of the deprecated feature generates a
	    warning.</para>
	</listitem>
 
	<listitem>
	  <para>The option, utility, or interface is preserved until
	    the next major (point zero) release.</para>
	</listitem>

	<listitem>
	  <para>The option, utility, or interface is removed and no
	    longer documented.  It is now obsolete.  It is also
	    generally a good idea to note its removal in the release
	    notes.</para>
	</listitem>
      </orderedlist>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="ports">
    <title>Ports Specific FAQ</title>

    <qandaset>
      <qandadiv>
	<title>Adding a New Port</title>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>How do I add a new port?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>First, please read the section about repository
	      copy.</para>

	    <para>The easiest way to add a new port is to use the
	      <command>addport</command> script on
	      <hostid>freefall</hostid>.  It will add a port from the
	      directory you specify, determining the category automatically
	      from the port <filename>Makefile</filename>.
	      It will also add an entry to the
	      <filename>CVSROOT/modules</filename> file and the port's
	      category <filename>Makefile</filename>.  It was
	      written by &a.mharo; and &a.will;, but Will is the current
	      maintainer so please send questions/patches about
	      <command>addport</command> to him.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>Any other things I need to know when I add a new
	      port?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>Check the port, preferably to make sure it compiles
	      and packages correctly.  This is the recommended
	      sequence:</para>

	    <screen>&prompt.root; <userinput>make install</userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>make package</userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>make deinstall</userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>pkg_add <replaceable>package you built above</replaceable></userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>make deinstall</userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>make reinstall</userinput>
&prompt.root; <userinput>make package</userinput>
	    </screen>

	    <para>The 
	      <ulink url="../../books/porters-handbook/index.html">Porters
	      Handbook</ulink> contains more detailed
	      instructions.</para>

	    <para>Use &man.portlint.1; to check the syntax of the port.
	      You do not necessarily have to eliminate all warnings but
	      make sure you have fixed the simple ones.</para>

	    <para>If the port came from a submitter who has not
	      contributed to the project before, add that person's
	      name to the <ulink
	      url="../contributors/contrib-additional.html">Additional
	      Contributors</ulink> section of the FreeBSD Contributors
	      List.</para>

	    <para>Close the PR if the port came in as a PR.  To close
	      a PR, just do 
	      <userinput>edit-pr <replaceable>PR#</replaceable></userinput>
	      on <hostid>freefall</hostid> and change the
	      <varname>state</varname> from <constant>open</constant>
	      to <constant>closed</constant>.  You will be asked to
	      enter a log message and then you are done.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>
      </qandadiv>

      <qandadiv>
	<title>Repository Copies</title>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>When do we need a repository copy?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>When you want to add a port that is related to
	      any port that is already in the tree in a separate
	      directory, please send mail to the ports manager asking
	      about it.  Here <wordasword>related</wordasword> means
	      it is a different version or a slightly modified
	      version.  Examples are
	      <filename>print/ghostscript*</filename> (different
	      versions) and <filename>x11-wm/windowmaker*</filename>
	      (English-only and internationalized version).</para>

	    <para>Another example is when a port is moved from one
	      subdirectory to another, or when you want to change the
	      name of a directory because the author(s) renamed their
	      software even though it is a
	      descendant of a port already in a tree.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>When do we <emphasis>not</emphasis> need a
	      repository copy?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>When there is no history to preserve.  If a port is
	      added into a wrong category and is moved immediately,
	      it suffices to simply <command>cvs remove</command> the
	      old one and <command>addport</command> the new
	      one.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>What do I need to do?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>Send mail to the ports manager, who will do a copy
	      from the old location/name to the new location/name.
	      You will then get a notice, at which point you are
	      expected to perform the following:</para>

	    <procedure>
	      <step>
		<para><command>cvs remove</command> the old port (if
		  necessary)</para>
	      </step>

	      <step>
		<para>Adjust the parent (category)
		  <filename>Makefile</filename></para>
	      </step>

	      <step>
		<para>Update <filename>CVSROOT/modules</filename></para>
	      </step>

	      <step>
		<para>If other ports depend on the updated port,
		  change their <filename>Makefile</filename>s'
		  dependency lines</para>
	      </step>

	      <step>
		<para>If the port changed categories, modify the
		  <makevar>CATEGORIES</makevar> line of the port's
		  <filename>Makefile</filename> accordingly</para>
	      </step>
	    </procedure>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>
      </qandadiv>

      <qandadiv>
	<title>Ports Freeze</title>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>What is a <quote>ports freeze</quote>?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>Before a release, it is necessary to restrict
	      commits to the ports tree for a short period of time
	      while the packages and the release itself are being
	      built.  This is to ensure consistency among the various
	      parts of the release, and is called the <quote>ports
	      freeze</quote>.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>How long is a ports freeze?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>Usually an hour or two.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>What does it mean to me?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>During the ports freeze, you are not allowed to
	      commit anything to the tree without explicit approval
	      from the ports manager.  <quote>Explicit
	      approval</quote> here means either of the
	      following:</para>

	    <itemizedlist>
	      <listitem>
		<para>You asked the ports manager and got a reply
		  saying, <quote>Go ahead and commit
		  it.</quote></para>
	      </listitem>

	      <listitem>
		<para>The ports manager sent a mail to you or the
		  mailing lists during the ports freeze pointing out
		  that the port is broken and has to be fixed.</para>
	      </listitem>
	    </itemizedlist>

	    <para>Note that you do not have implicit permission to fix
	      a port during the freeze just because it is
	      broken.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>How do I know when the ports freeze starts?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>The ports manager will send out warning messages to
	      the &a.ports; and &a.committers;
	      announcing the start of the impending release, usually
	      two or three weeks in advance.  The exact starting time
	      will not be determined until a few days before the
	      actual release.  This is because the ports freeze has to
	      be synchronized with the release, and it is usually not
	      known until then when exactly the release will be
	      rolled.</para>

	    <para>When the freeze starts, there will be another
	      announcement to the &a.committers;, of course.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>How do I know when the ports freeze ends?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>A few hours after the release, the ports manager
	      will send out a mail to the &a.ports; and &a.committers;
	      announcing the end of the ports freeze.  Note that the
	      release being cut does not automatically end the freeze.
	      We have to make sure there will not be any last minute
	      snafus that result in an immediate re-rolling of the
	      release.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>
      </qandadiv>

      <qandadiv>
	<title>Miscellaneous Questions</title>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>How do I know if my port is building correctly or
	      not?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>First, go check
	      <ulink url="http://bento.FreeBSD.org/~asami/errorlogs/">http://bento.FreeBSD.org/~asami/errorlogs/</ulink>.

	      There you will find error logs from the latest package
	      building runs on 3-stable, 4-stable and 5-current.</para>

	    <para>However, just because the port does not show up there
	      does not mean it is building correctly.  (One of the
	      dependencies may have failed, for instance.)  Here are
	      the relevant directories on bento, so feel free to dig
	      around.</para>

	    <programlisting> /a/asami/portbuild/3/errors        error logs from latest 3-stable run
                     /logs          all logs from latest 3-stable run
                     /packages      packages from latest 3-stable run
                     /bak/errors    error logs from last complete 3-stable run
                     /bak/logs      all logs from last complete 3-stable run
                     /bak/packages  packages from last complete 3-stable run
                   /4/errors        error logs from latest 4-stable run
                     /logs          all logs from latest 4-stable run
                     /packages      packages from latest 4-stable run
                     /bak/errors    error logs from last complete 4-stable run
                     /bak/logs      all logs from last complete 4-stable run
                     /bak/packages  packages from last complete 4-stable run
                   /5/errors        error logs from latest 5-current run
                     /logs          all logs from latest 5-current run
                     /packages      packages from latest 5-current run
                     /bak/errors    error logs from last complete 5-current run
                     /bak/logs      all logs from last complete 5-current run
                     /bak/packages  packages from last complete 5-current run
	    </programlisting>

	    <para>Basically, if the port shows up in
	      <filename>packages</filename>, or it is in
	      <filename>logs</filename> but not in
	      <filename>errors</filename>, it built fine.  (The
	      <filename>errors</filename> directories are what you get
	      from the web page.)</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>I added a new port.  Do I need to add it to the
	      <filename>INDEX</filename>?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>No.  The ports manager will regenerate the
	      <filename>INDEX</filename> and commit it every few
	      days.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>Are there any other files I am not allowed to
	      touch?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>Any file directly under <filename>ports/</filename>, or
	      any file under a subdirectory that starts with an
	      uppercase letter (<filename>Mk/</filename>,
	      <filename>Tools/</filename>, etc.).  In particular, the
	      ports manager is very protective of
	      <filename>ports/Mk/bsd.port*.mk</filename> so do not
	      commit changes to those files unless you want to face his
	      wra(i)th.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>

	<qandaentry>
	  <question>
	    <para>What is the proper procedure for updating the checksum
	      for a port's distfile when the file changes without a
	      version change?</para>
	  </question>

	  <answer>
	    <para>When the checksum for a port's distfile is updated due
	      to the author updating the file without changing the port's
	      revision, the commit message should include a summary of
	      the relevant diffs between the original and new distfile to
	      ensure that the distfile has not been corrupted or
	      maliciously altered.  If the current version of the port
	      has been in the ports tree for a while, a copy of the old
	      distfile will usually be available on the ftp servers;
	      otherwise the author or maintainer should be contacted to
	      find out why the distfile has changed.</para>
	  </answer>
	</qandaentry>
      </qandadiv>
    </qandaset>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="perks">
    <title>Perks of the Job</title>

    <para>Unfortunately, there aren't many perks involved with being a
      committer.  Recognition as a competent software engineer is probably
      the only thing that will be of benefit in the long run.  However,
      there are at least some perks:</para>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>Direct access to <hostid>cvsup-master</hostid></term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>As a committer, you may apply to &a.jdp; for direct access
	    to <hostid role="fqdn">cvsup-master.FreeBSD.org</hostid>,
	    providing the public key output from <command>cvpasswd
	    <replaceable>yourusername</replaceable>@FreeBSD.org
	    cvsup-master.FreeBSD.org</command>.  Access to
	    <hostid>cvsup-master</hostid> should not be over-used as it is
	    a busy machine.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>A Free DVD Subscription</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para>FreeBSD Services Limited offer a free DVD subscription to
	    FreeBSD committers.  To take advantage of this offer, go to <ulink
	    url="https://www.freebsd-services.com/cgi/index/sales/login">
	    www.freebsd-services.com</ulink> and fill out their customer form,
	    making sure that you tick the FreeBSD Committer and free
	    subscription check-boxes.  A message will be sent to your
	    <emphasis role="bold">FreeBSD.org</emphasis> email address asking
	    for confirmation.  Just reply to the mail, quoting the message
	    and updating the <quote>Membership Valid</quote> field with a
	    <literal>Y</literal>.  You can confirm that the reply was sent
	    successfully by <ulink
            url="https://www.freebsd-services.com/cgi/index/customer">logging
	    in </ulink>to their site and checking that your <literal>Current
	    Status</literal> is set to
	    <emphasis role="bold">Associated</emphasis>.</para>

	  <para>In addition to the free subscription, committers are also
	    entitled to a <emphasis role="bold">10% discount</emphasis> on
	    all products on the site.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>A Free 4-CD Set Subscription</term>

	<listitem>
	  <para><ulink url="http://www.freebsdmall.com">FreeBSD Mall,
            Inc.</ulink> offers a free subscription of the official
            4-CD set to all FreeBSD committers.  Information about how
            to obtain your free CD is mailed to
            <email>developers@FreeBSD.org</email> following each major
            release.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>
  </sect1>

  <sect1 id="misc">
    <title>Miscellaneous Questions</title>

    <qandaset>
      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>Why are trivial or cosmetic changes to files on a vendor
	    branch a bad idea?</para>
	</question>

	<answer>
	  <itemizedlist>
	    <listitem>
	      <para>From now on, every new vendor release of that file will
		need to have patches merged in by hand.</para>
	    </listitem>

	    <listitem>
	      <para>From now on, every new vendor release of that file will
		need to have patches <emphasis>verified</emphasis> by hand.</para>
	    </listitem>

	    <listitem>
	      <para>The <option>-j</option> option does not work very well.
		Ask &a.obrien; for horror stories.</para>
	    </listitem>
	  </itemizedlist>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>How do I add a new file to a CVS branch?</para>
	</question>

	<answer>
	  <para>To add a file onto a branch, simply checkout or update
	  to the branch you want to add to and then add the file using
	  <command>cvs add</command> as you normally would.  For
	  example, if you wanted to MFC the file
	  <filename>src/sys/alpha/include/smp.h</filename> from HEAD
	  to RELENG_4 and it does not exist in RELENG_4 yet, you would
	  use the following steps:</para>

	  <example>
	    <title>MFC'ing a New File</title>

	    <screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>cd sys/alpha/include</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs update -rRELENG_4</userinput>
cvs update: Updating .
U clockvar.h
U console.h
...
&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs update -kk -Ap smp.h &gt; smp.h</userinput>
===================================================================
Checking out smp.h
RCS:  /usr/cvs/src/sys/alpha/include/smp.h,v
VERS: 1.1
***************
&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs add smp.h</userinput>
cvs add: scheduling file `smp.h' for addition on branch `RELENG_4'
cvs add: use 'cvs commit' to add this file permanently
&prompt.user; <userinput>cvs commit</userinput>
	    </screen>
	  </example>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>What <quote>meta</quote> information should I include in a
	    commit message?</para>
	</question>

	<answer>
	  <para>As well as including an informative message with each commit
	    you may need to include some additional information as
	    well.</para>

	  <para>This information consists of one or more lines containing the
	    the key word or phrase, a colon, tabs for formatting, and then the
	    additional information.</para>

	  <para>The key words or phrases are:</para>

	  <informaltable frame="none">
	    <tgroup cols="2">
	      <tbody>
		<row>
		  <entry><literal>PR:</literal></entry>
		  <entry>The problem report (if any) which is affected
		    (typically, by being closed) by this commit.</entry>
		</row>

		<row>
		  <entry><literal>Submitted by:</literal></entry>
		  <entry>The name and e-mail address of the person that
		    submitted the fix.</entry>
		</row>

		<row>
		  <entry><literal>Reviewed by:</literal></entry>
		  <entry>The name and e-mail address of the person or people
		    that reviewed the change.  If a patch was submitted to a
		    mailing list for review, and the review was favorable,
		    then just include the list name.</entry>
		</row>

		<row>
		  <entry><literal>Approved by:</literal></entry>
		  <entry>The name and e-mail address of the person or people
		    that approved the change.  It is customary to get prior
		    approval for a commit if it is to an area of the tree to
		    which you do not usually commit.  In addition, during the
		    run up to a new release all commits
		    <emphasis>must</emphasis> be approved by the release
		    engineer.  If these are your first commits then you should
		    have passed them past your mentor first for approval, and
		    you should list your mentor.</entry>
		</row>

		<row>
		  <entry><literal>Obtained from:</literal></entry>
		  <entry>The name of the project (if any) from which the code
		    was obtained.</entry>
		</row>

		<row>
		  <entry><literal>MFC after:</literal></entry>

                  <entry>If you wish to receive an e-mail reminder to
		    <acronym>MFC</acronym> at a later date, specify the
		    number of days, weeks, or months after which an
		    <acronym>MFC</acronym> is planned.</entry>
		</row>
	      </tbody>
	    </tgroup>
	  </informaltable>

	  <example>
	    <title>Commit log for a commit based on a PR</title>

	    <para>You want to commit a change based on a PR submitted by John
	      Smith containing a patch.  The end of the commit message should
	      look something like this.</para>

	    <programlisting>...

PR:                foo/12345
Submitted by:	   John Smith &lt;John.Smith@example.com></programlisting>
	  </example>

	  <example>
	    <title>Commit log for a commit needing review</title>

	    <para>You want to change the virtual memory system.  You have
	      posted patches to the appropriate mailing list (in this case,
	      <literal>freebsd-arch</literal>) and the changes have been
	      approved.</para>
	    
	    <programlisting>...

Reviewed by:       -arch</programlisting>
	  </example>

	  <example>
	    <title>Commit log for a commit needing approval</title>

	    <para>You want to commit a change to a section of the tree with a
	      MAINTAINER assigned.  You have collaborated with the listed
	      MAINTAINER, who has told you to go ahead and commit.</para>

	    <programlisting>...

Approved by:	    <replaceable>abc</replaceable></programlisting>

	    <para>Where <replaceable>abc</replaceable> is the account name of
	      the person who approved.</para>
	  </example>

	  <example>
	    <title>Commit log for a commit bringing in code from
	      OpenBSD</title>

	    <para>You want to commit some code based on work done in the
	      OpenBSD project.</para>

	    <programlisting>...

Obtained from:      OpenBSD</programlisting>
	  </example>

	  <example>
	    <title>Commit log for a change to &os.current; with a planned
              commit to &os.stable; to follow at a later date.</title>

	    <para>You want to commit some code which will be merged from
	      &os.current; into the &os.stable; branch after two
	      weeks.</para>

	    <programlisting>...

MFC after:      <replaceable>2 weeks</replaceable></programlisting>

	    <para>Where <replaceable>2</replaceable> is the number of days,
	      weeks, or months after which an <acronym>MFC</acronym> is
	      planned.  The <replaceable>weeks</replaceable> option may be
	      <literal>day</literal>, <literal>days</literal>,
	      <literal>week</literal>, <literal>weeks</literal>,
	      <literal>month</literal>, <literal>months</literal>,
	      or may be left off (in which case, days will be assumed).</para>
	  </example>

	  <para>In some cases you may need to combine some of these.</para>

	  <para>Consider the situation where a user has submitted a PR
	    containing code from the NetBSD project.  You are looking at the
	    PR, but it is not an area of the tree you normally work in, so
	    you have decided to get the change reviewed by the
	    <literal>arch</literal> mailing list.  Since the change is
	    complex, you opt to <acronym>MFC</acronym> after one month to
	    allow adequate testing.</para>

	  <para>The extra information to include in the commit would look
	    something like</para>

	  <programlisting>PR:                 foo/54321
Submitted by:       John Smith &lt;John.Smith@example.com>
Reviewed by:        -arch
Obtained from:      NetBSD
MFC after:          1 month</programlisting>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>

      <qandaentry>
	<question>
	  <para>How do I access <hostid
	    role="fqdn">people.FreeBSD.org</hostid> to put up personal
	    or project information?</para>
	</question>

	<answer>
	  <para><hostid role="fqdn">people.FreeBSD.org</hostid> is the
	    same as <hostid
	    role="fqdn">freefall.FreeBSD.org</hostid>. Just create a
	    <filename>public_html</filename> directory.  Anything you
	    place in that directory will automatically be visible
	    under <ulink
	    url="http://people.FreeBSD.org">people.FreeBSD.org</ulink>.</para>
	</answer>
      </qandaentry>
    </qandaset>
  </sect1>
</article>
