Non-core contributions

["Chris Travers" <..hidden..>]

Hi all;

The question has been brought up to me what role that non-core team
individuals have in contributing to LedgerSMB.  I am going to suggest
that people consider this email when deciding how to contribute.

There are a surprising number of non-core contributions-- see the
CONTRIBUTORS file in the distribution.  These range from minor
contributions to more major additions.  Most offered contributions
have been accepted.  Those that have not been accepted were generally
partial solutions and we did not have time to implement the whole
thing at the moment.

In general, anyone can submit a patch of an size using Sourceforge's
patch tracking interface.  Someone with commit rights can then commit
the patch to our source repository.

Those individuals who swamp us with good quality patches may be given
commit priveleges.

In general, if you want your work to be accepted, the best thing to do
is vet ideas on the -devel list before you start and while you work.
This helps avoid problems as the ideas get peer review.  Workflow and
usability ideas should be vetted on -users.

Other offers for donations of effort relating to infrastructure can be
made by sending an email to any of the core members.

If unsure, just email the -devel list :-).

If you are a developer wishing to get your changes accepted upstream,
following these guidelines will help ensure that the changes do make
it into the codebase.  If you are hiring a developer to add features,
having the developer follow these guidelines will be helpful.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers