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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//DTD DocBook V3.1-Based Extension//EN" [
<!ENTITY % man PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Manual Page Entities//EN">
%man;
<!ENTITY % authors PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//ENTITIES DocBook Author Entities//EN">
%authors;
]>
<article>
<artheader>
<title>New Committer Guide</title>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<surname>The FreeBSD Documentation Project</surname>
</author>
</authorgroup>
<pubdate>September 1999</pubdate>
<copyright>
<year>1999</year>
<holder>The FreeBSD Documentation Project</holder>
</copyright>
<abstract>
<para>Welcome, new committer, to the FreeBSD development
team!</para>
<para>The following docs are provided to orient you on doing CVS
operations on the FreeBSD central repository machine. A basic
familiarity with CVS is already assumed, although CVS
reference information, tutorials, and FAQs can also be found
at: <ulink url="http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/books.html">http://www.cyclic.com/cyclic-pages/books.html</ulink></para>
<para>Good luck, and welcome aboard!</para>
</abstract>
</artheader>
<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>International Crypto Repository Host</emphasis>
</entry>
<entry><hostid>internat.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>/home/ncvs</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><emphasis>International Crypto CVSROOT</emphasis></entry>
<entry>/home/cvs.crypt</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><emphasis>Main CVS Repository Meisters</emphasis></entry>
<entry>&a.jdp; and &a.peter; as well as &a.asami; for
<filename>ports/</filename></entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
<emphasis>International Crypto CVS Repository Meister</emphasis>
</entry>
<entry>&a.markm;</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><emphasis>Mailing List</emphasis></entry>
<entry><email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email></entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><emphasis>Noteworthy CVS Tags</emphasis></entry>
<entry>RELENG_3 (3.x-STABLE), HEAD (-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="cvs.operations">
<title>CVS Operations</title>
<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 new ports, contrib-ified
sources, etc), a script called <quote>easy-import</quote> 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. – just run it without
arguments and it will prompt you for everything it needs to
know.</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
<wordasword>ssh</wordasword> 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 <quote>mv</quote> operation, then a repository
copy is in order rather than your 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 CVS gives to the project.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="conventions">
<title>Conventions and Traditions</title>
<para>The CVS Repository Meisters (Peter Wemm and John Polstra)
are the <quote>owners</quote> of the CVS repository and
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 cvs import or tag operation, do
<emphasis role="bold">not</emphasis> attempt to fix it yourself!
Mail or call John or Peter immediately and report the problem to
one of them instead. The only ones allowed to directly fiddle
the repository bits are the repomeisters. Satoshi Asami is also a
repomeister for the <filename>ports/</filename> portion of the
tree. Mark Murray is the repomeister for the International
Crypto Repository in South Africa.</para>
<para>If you are a new committer, your very first commit should be
to add yourself to the developer's section (28.2) of the
Handbook. Figuring out how to check the handbook out and add an
entry for yourself is relatively easy but still remains a good
first test of your CVS skills. If you can handle that one,
you are probably going to be ok.</para>
<para>Your next step should be to 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 <email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email> and you will be on
your way!</para>
<para>Also, be sure to log into <hostid>hub.FreeBSD.org</hostid>
and create yourself a
<filename>/var/forward/<replaceable>user</replaceable></filename>
(where <replaceable>user</replaceable> is your username) file
which contains your principal e-mail address where you want mail
to <replaceable>yourusername</replaceable>@FreeBSD.org
to be forwarded. Really large mailboxes which have taken up
permanent residence on <hostid>hub</hostid> often get
<quote>accidently</quote> truncated without warning, so forward
it or read it and you will not lose it.</para>
<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 <literal>-CURRENT</literal> first
before being merged to <literal>-STABLE</literal>. No major new
features or high-risk modifications should be made to the
<literal>-STABLE</literal> 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-all</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. 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 at all unsure about a commit for any reason in
general, have it reviewed by <literal>-hackers</literal> first
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 – 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. Your 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="http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/support.html</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><ulink url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/send-pr.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/send-pr.html</ulink></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>&man.send-pr.1;</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="people">
<title>Who's Who</title>
<para>Besides Peter Wemm and John Polstra, the repository
meisters, there are other FreeBSD project members whom you will
probably get to know in your new role as a committer. Briefly,
and by no means all-inclusively, these are:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.asami;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Is the portsmeister, meaning that he has ultimate
authority over any modifications to the ports collection or
ports make macro files. He is also the one responsible for
administering code freezes before the releases.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.bde;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Is Obersturmbahnfuhrer of the Style Police. When you
do a commit that could have been done better, Bruce will
be there to note it to you. Be thankful that someone
is.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.dg;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Is our principal architect and overseer of the VM
system. If you have a VM system change in mind,
coordinate it with David. Should you become locked in
bitter, intractable dispute with some other committer over
a proposed change (which does not happen very often,
thankfully) then an appeal to David to put on his P.A. hat
and make a final decision can also occasionally be
necessary.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.jkh;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Is the release engineer. He is responsible for
setting release deadlines and controlling the release
process. During code freezes, he also has final authority
on all changes to the system for whichever branch is
pending release status. If there is something you want
merged from <literal>-CURRENT</literal> to
<literal>-STABLE</literal> (whatever values those may have
at any given time), he is also the one to talk to about
it</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.markm;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Mark is the CVS repository meister for the
international crypto repository kept on
<hostid>internat.FreeBSD.org</hostid> in South Africa.</para>
<para>Mark also oversees most of the crypto code; if you have
any crypto updates, please ask Mark first.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.steve;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Steve is unofficial maintainer of
<filename>/usr/src/bin</filename>. If you have something
significant you'd like to do there, you should probably
coordinate it first with Steve. He's also Problem
Report-meister, along with &a.phk;.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.brian;</term>
<listitem>
<para>Official maintainer of
<filename>/usr/bin/ppp</filename> and LPD.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>&a.wollman;</term>
<listitem>
<para>If you need advice on obscure network internals or
aren't sure of some potential change to the networking
subsystem you have in mind, Garrett is someone to talk
to.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="ssh.guide">
<title>SSH Quick-Start Guide</title>
<procedure>
<step>
<para>Update and install the ssh port in
<filename>/usr/ports/security/ssh</filename> (should be
version 1.2.25 or later).</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>Make sure that you run &man.ssh-agent.1; 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 the
<filename><envar>$HOME</envar>/.ssh</filename>
directory.</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>Copy your public key
(<filename><envar>$HOME</envar>/.ssh/identity.pub</filename>)
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;) so that you won't
have to retype it over and over.</para>
<para>Test by doing something such as <command>ssh
freefall.FreeBSD.org ls /usr</command>.</para>
<para>For more information, see
<filename>/usr/ports/security/ssh</filename>, &man.ssh.1;,
&man.ssh-agent.1;, &man.scp.1;, and &man.ssh-keygen.1;.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>The FreeBSD Committers' Big List of Rules</title>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Respect other committers.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Discuss any significant change <emphasis>before</emphasis>
committing.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Respect existing maintainers if listed
(<makevar>MAINTAINER</makevar> field in
<filename>Makefile</filename> or <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 or the Principal
Architect. Security related changes may override a maintainer's
wishes at the Security Officer's discretion.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Changes go to -current before -stable unless specifically
permitted by the release engineer or unless they're not applicable
to -current. Any non-trivial or non-urgent change which is
applicable should also be allowed to sit in -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 -stable branch as
outlined for the Principal Architect in rule #5.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Don't fight in public with other committers; it looks bad. If
you must "strongly disagree" about something, do so only in
private.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Respect all code freezes and read the committers mailing list on
a timely basis 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>
</orderedlist>
<para>As noted, breaking some of these rules can be grounds for suspension
or, upon repeated offense, permanent removal of commit privileges.
Three or more members of core, or the Principal Architect and another
member of core acting in unison, have the power to temporarily suspend
commit privileges until <literal>-core</literal> as a whole has the chance to review the
issue. In cases of <quote>emergency</quote> (a committer doing damage to the
repository), a temporary suspension may also be done by the repository
meisters or any other member of core who may happen to be awake at the
time. Only core as a whole has the authority to suspend commit
privileges for any significant length of time or to remove them
permanently, the latter generally only being done after consultation
with committers. 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
seriously out of control, it's 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
“hearing”, 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 doesn't mean that they have special
dispensation to step outside of any of the lines painted here; core's
“special powers” only kick in when it acts as a group, not
on an individual basis. As individuals, we are all committers first and
core second.</para>
<sect2>
<title>Details</title>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<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 doesn't get into committers 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, don't send email when you're 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,
don't 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 “energy economics”, 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's 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>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 doesn't 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 isn't quite such a
no-brainer and requires some feedback first. People really don't
mind sweeping changes if the result is something clearly better
than what they had before, they just don't like being
<emphasis>surprised</emphasis> by those changes. The very best
way of making sure that you're 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 aren't “owned” in the sense
that any specific individual will jump up and yell if you commit a
change to “their” 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="http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/policies.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/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 isn't 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="http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/staff-who.html">http://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/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're 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
<email>cvs@FreeBSD.org</email> 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're 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 or the Principal
Architect. 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're in the right, of course) but CVS
makes it unnecessary to have an ongoing dispute raging when it's
far easier to simply reverse the disputed change, get everyone
calmed down again and then try and figure out how best 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
didn't 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 -current before -stable unless specifically
permitted by the release engineer or unless they're not applicable
to -current. Any non-trivial or non-urgent change which is
applicable should also be allowed to sit in -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 -stable
branch as outlined in rule #5.</para>
<para>This is another <quote>don't argue about it</quote> issue since it's 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
-stable branch. The management of -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
-stable and different rules apply there than in -current. There's
also really no point in having -current be a testing ground if
changes are merged over from -stable immediately without giving
them a chance be tested by the -current developers, so allow some
time to elapse before merging unless the -stable fix is critical,
time sensitive or so obvious as to make further testing
unnecessary (spelling fixes to manpages, obvious bug/typo fixes,
etc.) In other words, apply common sense.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Don't fight in public with other committers; it looks bad. If
you must “strongly disagree” 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're 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, and the best we can do is try and
minimize the effects of this until everyone has cooled back down.
That means that you shouldn't air your angry words in public and
you shouldn't forward private correspondence to public mailing
lists or aliases. What people say one-to-one is often much less
sugar-coated than what they'd 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 had at least the grace to send it privately, then
have the grace to keep it private yourself. If you feel you're
being unfairly treated by another developer and it's causing you
anguish, bring the matter up with core rather than taking it
public. We'll do our 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 don't 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 committers mailing list
on a timely basis so you know when they are.</para>
<para>Committing changes during a code freeze is a really big
mistake and committers are expected to keep up-to-date on what's
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>So many mistakes are made because someone's in a hurry and
just assumes they know the right way of going about something. If
you haven't done it before, chances are good that you don't
actually know the way we do things and really need to ask first or
you're going to completely embarrass yourself in public. There's
no shame in asking “how in the heck do I do this?” and
we already know you're an intelligent person or you wouldn't be in
committers.</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 wouldn't 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's 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>
</orderedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Other Suggestions</title>
<para>When committing documentation changes, also be sure and 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 the 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>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>Ports Specific FAQ</title>
<qandaset>
<qandadiv>
<title>Importing a New Port</title>
<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>How do I import a new port?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>First, please read the section about repository
copy.</para>
<para>To import a new port, the easiest way is to use the
<command>easy-import</command> script on
<hostid>freefall</hostid>. It will ask you some
questions and import the port in the directory you
specifies. It will also add an entry to the modules
file. It was written by &a.joerg; so please send mail
to him if you have questions about
<command>easy-import</command>.</para>
<para>One thing it will not do for you is add the port to
the parent (category) <filename>Makefile</filename>.
You have to do that yourself.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>Any other things I need to know when I import 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.user; <userinput>make install</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>make package</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>make deinstall</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>pkg_add <replaceable>package you built above</replaceable></userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>make deinstall</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>make reinstall</userinput>
&prompt.user; <userinput>make package</userinput>
</screen>
<para>The Handbook's
<ulink url="../handbook/porting.html">porting
section</ulink> contains more detailed
instructions.</para>
<para>Use &man.portlint.1; to check the syntax of the port.
You don't 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 Handbook's
<citetitle pubwork="section">Additional Contributors</citetitle>
section.</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 import 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 due to the authors calling their
software by a different name even though it's 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
imported into a wrong category and is moved immediately,
it suffices to simply <command>cvs remove</command> the
old one and <command>cvs import</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 two to three days.</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 <email>freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.org</email> and
<email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email> mailing lists 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 <email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email>
list, 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
<email>freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.org</email> and
<email>cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org</email> mailing lists
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 and 4-current.</para>
<para>However, just because the port doesn't show up there
doesn't mean it's 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-current run
/logs all logs from latest 4-current run
/packages packages from latest 4-current run
/bak/errors error logs from last complete 4-current run
/bak/logs all logs from last complete 4-current run
/bak/packages packages from last complete 4-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'm not allowed to
touch?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>Any file right 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 about
<filename>ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk</filename> so don't
commit changes to it unless you want to face his
wra(i)th.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandadiv>
</qandaset>
</sect1>
</article>
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