Cosmin Truta wrote:
> <snipped...>
> It is the very first time when I try to send a patch to some GNU software,
> so I don't know exactly how to do it. I sent this message to this List
> now; if there is another, better way to contribute to contribute to GIMP,
> I would like to know about it :-)
First of all, thank you for the contribution. The current
submission procedure for The Gimp is kind of in two different
places. First, unstable developer distributions should
have a file called HACKING; it contains the submission
procedure [gimp/HACKING CVS-1.9 Jan 21 1999]:
> Please submit patches to the [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> mailing list. All kinds of contributions are accepted. Patches
> that you wish to go into the distribution should also be uploaded
> to ftp://ftp.gimp.org/incoming. Follow the rules there for
> naming your patches.
The ftp site accepts anonymous logins. The second half of the
procedure is there:
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *** IMPORTANT NOTE (please read):
>>
>> If you put patches in the incoming directory you must follow the following
>> format or I will just delete it. You must include the README with a
>> minimum of what the patch does. The maintainers of the distributions
>> will decide whether your patch will be applied in an upcoming release.
>>
>> (gtk|gimp)-<username>-<date yymmdd-n>.patch.gz
>> (gtk|gimp)-<username>-<date yymmdd-n>.patch.README
>>
>> The "n" in the date indicates a unique number (starting from 0)
>> of patches you uploaded that day. It should be 0, unless you
>> upload more than one patch in the same day.
>>
>> Example:
>>
>> gtk-amundson-970801-0.patch.gz
>> gtk-amundson-970801-0.patch.README
>>
>> We prefer greatly prefer unified diffs, if possible (diff -u for GNU diff)
>>
>> Once you upload *anything*, send the README to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> I REPEAT. EVEN IF IT IS NOT A PATCH, SEND MAIL TO [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> with the README. EVERYTHING MUST HAVE A README!
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
The README that you submit with the patch would detail what feature the patch
introduces (note: we're in "feature freeze" at the moment) or what bug the
patch fixes. Current known bugs are at http://bugs.gnome.org/db/pa/lgimp.html,
so if you are patching a known bug, it helps to explicitly reference the bug
number listed there.
As an aside, if you encounter something that appears to be a bug, you
can report the behavior at http://www.xach.com/gimp/news/bugreport.html
If this seems a bit complicated, its because The Gimp is volunteer-supported with
limited resources; the extra steps ensure that patches get noticed and handled.
Be good, be well
Garry Osgood