-*- mode: org; fill-column:65 -*-

This is the GIT repository for the development of Org-mode, an
Emacs mode for organizing your life.

The text below explains the rules for participating in Org-mode
development.


* Main rules

1. The git repository is hosted publicly at repo.or.cz.  Anyone
   can get a clone of the current repository state using the
   command

     git clone git://repo.or.cz/org-mode.git

   Having a clone is sufficient to start hacking and to produce
   patches that can easily and consistently be applied to the
   main repository.

2. People who are interested to participate in the Org-mode
   development can do so by sending patches to
   emacs-orgmode@gnu.org.

3. An interested developer can also request push access to the
   central repository by sending his/her user-info at repo.or.cz
   the maintainer of Org-mode.

   After you have been added as a user with push privileges,
   clone the repository through ssh using

        git+ssh://repo.or.cz/srv/git/org-mode.git

   By requesting push access, you acknowledge that you have read
   and agreed with the following rules:

   - Org-mode is part of Emacs.  Therefore we need to be very
     conscious about changes moving into the Org-mode core.
     These can originate only from people who have signed the
     appropriate papers with the Free Software Foundation.  The
     files to which this applies are:

     - all *.el files in the root directory of the repository
     - org.texi, orgcard.tex, and ChangeLog.

   - Before making any significant changes, please explain and
     discuss them on the mailing list emacs-orgmode@gnu.org.

     This does obviously not apply to people who are maintaining
     their own contributions to Org-mode.  Please, just use the
     new mechanism to make sure all changes end up in the right
     place.

   - Creating and pushing a change to the Org-mode core requires
     you also to provide ChangeLog entries.  Just press `C-x 4 a'
     in each function or variable you have modified and describe
     the change you made in the ChangeLog buffer/file.

   - Among other things, Org-mode is widely appreciated because
     if its simplicity, cleanness and consistency.  We should try
     hard to preserve this and I would like to ask everyone to
     keep this in mind when developing changes.


* The CONTRIB directory

The git repository contains a CONTRIB directory.  This directory
is the playing field for any developer, also people who have not
(yet) signed the papers with the FSF.  You are free to add files
to this directory, implementing extensions, new link types etc.
Also non-Lisp extensions like scripts to process Org-mode files
in different ways are welcome in this directory.  You should
provide documentation with your extensions, at least in the form
of commentary in the file.  Please discuss your extensions on
emacs-orgmode@gnu.org.

The CONTRIB directory will be part of the Org-mode distribution
starting with version 5.21.  When that happens, people who want
to use extensions will have to make sure their search path
(executable or Lisp) includes the relevant directories.

After files have been tested in CONTRIB and found to be generally
useful, we may decide to clarify copyright questions and then
move the file into the Org-mode core.  This means they will be
moved up to the root directory and will also eventually be added
to Emacs CVS tree.  The final decision about this rests with the
maintainer.