109 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
109 lines
5.5 KiB
Text
<!-- $Id: development.sgml,v 1.7 1996-11-05 11:44:48 asami Exp $ -->
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<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
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<sect><heading>The FreeBSD development model<label id="development"></heading>
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<p><em>Contributed by &a.asami;</em>.
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<p>The development of FreeBSD is a very open and flexible process,
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FreeBSD being literally built from the contributions of hundreds of
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people around the world, as can be seen from our <ref id="contrib"
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name="list of contributors">. We are constantly on the lookout for
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new developers and ideas, and those interested in becoming more
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closely involved with the project need simply contact us at the
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&a.hackers;. Those who prefer to work more independently are also
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accommodated, and they are free to use our FTP facilities at <htmlurl
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url="ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/incoming"
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name="ftp.freebsd.org"> to distribute their own patches or work-in-progress
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sources. The &a.announce; is also available to those wishing
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to make other FreeBSD users aware of major areas of work.
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Useful things to know about the FreeBSD project and its development process,
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whether working independently or in close cooperation:
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<descrip>
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<itemize>
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<item><bf>The CVS repository</bf><label id="development:cvs-repository">
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<p>The central source tree for FreeBSD is maintained by <htmlurl
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url="http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/CVS-sheet.html" name="CVS">
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(Concurrent Version System), a freely available source code control
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tool which comes bundled with FreeBSD. The primary <htmlurl
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url="http://www.freebsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb" name="CVS repository">
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resides on a machine in Concord CA, USA from where it is replicated
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to numerous mirror machines throughout the world. The CVS tree, as well
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as the <ref id="current" name="-current"> and <ref id="stable"
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name="-stable"> trees which are checked out of it, can be easily
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replicated to your own machine as well. Please refer to the
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<ref id="synching" name="Syncronizing your source tree">
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section for more information on doing this.</item>
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<item><bf>The committers list</bf><label id="development:committers">
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<p>The <ref id="contrib:committers" name="committers"> are the people
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who have <em>write</em> access to the CVS tree, and are thus
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authorized to make modifications to the FreeBSD source (the term
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``committer'' comes from the <tt>cvs(1)</tt> ``<tt>commit</tt>''
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command, which is used to bring new changes into the CVS repository).
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The best way of making submissions for review by the committers list
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is to use the <htmlurl url="http://www.freebsd.org/send-pr.html"
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name="send-pr(1)"> command, though if something appears to be jammed
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in the system then you may also reach them by sending mail to <htmlurl
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url="mailto:committers@freebsd.org" name="committers@freebsd.org">.
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</item>
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<item><bf>The FreeBSD core team</bf><label id="development:core">
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<p>The <ref id="contrib:core" name="FreeBSD core team"> would be
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equivalent to the board of directors if the FreeBSD Project were a
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company. The primary task of the core team is to make sure the
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project, as a whole, is in good shape and is heading in the right
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directions. Inviting dedicated and responsible developers to join our
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group of committers is one of the functions of the core team, as is
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the recruitment of new core team members as others move on. Most
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current members of the core team started as committers who's addiction
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to the project got the better of them.
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<p>Some core team members also have specific <ref id="contrib:who"
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name="areas of responsibility">, meaning that they are committed to
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ensuring that some large portion of the system works as advertised.
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Note that most members of the core team are volunteers when it comes
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to FreeBSD development and do not benefit from the project
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financially, so "committment" should also not be misconstrued as
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meaning "guaranteed support." The ``board of directors'' analogy
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above is not actually very accurate, and it may be more suitable to
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say that these are the people who gave up their lives in favor of
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FreeBSD against their better judgement! <tt>;)</tt></item>
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<item><bf>Outside contributors</bf>
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<p>Last, but definitely not least, the largest group of developers are
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the users themselves who provide feedback and bug-fixes to us on an
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almost constant basis. The primary way of keeping in touch with FreeBSD's
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more non-centralized development is to subscribe to the &a.hackers;
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(see <ref id="eresources:mail" name="mailing list info">) where such
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things are discussed.
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<ref id="contrib:additional" name="The list"> of those who've
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contributed something which made its way into our source tree is
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a long and growing one, so why not join it by contributing something
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back to FreeBSD today? <tt>:-)</tt>
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<p>Providing code is not the only way of contributing to the project;
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for a more complete list of things that need doing, please refer to the <ref
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id="submitters" name="how to contribute"> section in this handbook.
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</itemize>
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</descrip>
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In summary, our development model is organized as a loose set of
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concentric circles. The centralized model is designed for the
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convenience of the <em>users</em> of FreeBSD, who are thereby provided
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with an easy way of tracking one central code base, not to keep
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potential contributors out! Our desire is to present a stable
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operating system with a large set of coherent <ref id="ports"
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name="application programs"> that the users can easily install and
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use, and this model works very well in accomplishing that.
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All we ask of those who would join us as FreeBSD developers is some of
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the same dedication its current people have to its continued success!
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