[Savannah-cvs] administration/docs/hacking_savannah hacking_sa...

[Sylvain Beucler]

CVSROOT:        /cvsroot/administration
Module name:    administration
Branch:         
Changes by:     Sylvain Beucler <address@hidden>        04/08/13 22:23:58

Modified files:
        docs/hacking_savannah: hacking_savannah.texi 

Log message:
        Continued working on the approval process description

CVSWeb URLs:
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/administration/administration/docs/hacking_savannah/hacking_savannah.texi.diff?tr1=1.25&tr2=1.26&r1=text&r2=text

Patches:
Index: administration/docs/hacking_savannah/hacking_savannah.texi
diff -u administration/docs/hacking_savannah/hacking_savannah.texi:1.25 
administration/docs/hacking_savannah/hacking_savannah.texi:1.26
--- administration/docs/hacking_savannah/hacking_savannah.texi:1.25     Thu Aug 
12 22:13:02 2004
+++ administration/docs/hacking_savannah/hacking_savannah.texi  Fri Aug 13 
22:23:58 2004
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 \input texinfo   @c -*-texinfo-*-
address@hidden $Id: hacking_savannah.texi,v 1.25 2004/08/12 22:13:02 Beuc Exp $
address@hidden $Id: hacking_savannah.texi,v 1.26 2004/08/13 22:23:58 Beuc Exp $
 @comment %**start of header
 @setfilename hacking_savannah.info
 @include version.texi
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@
 This chapter is about MySQL: its configuration, and how to perform
 simple tasks.
 
address@hidden User priviledges
address@hidden User privileges
 
 There are three principal users in the Savannah MySQL database (the
 others should be sorted out). Passwords are in ~root/mysql.txt.
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@
 @item svadmin
 This is the user that can be used by ~svadmin, ie the read-only
 administrator account, thanks to ~svadmin/.my.cnf. It only has select
-priviledges
+privileges
 @item root
 This user has all rights on the database. ~root/.my.cnf makes it
 default for ~root.
@@ -944,6 +944,18 @@
 @node Projects approval, Terminology, Some quirks, Top
 @chapter Projects approval
 
address@hidden Prerequisites
+
+Reviewing projects requires notions of licensing, GNU policies, and
+user communication. We hope to provide enough information and
+reference to information here, so as to make you able to be part of
+the Savannah approval team.
+
+When we point you to an URL, it is important that you actually read
+its contents. Most often, it is technical or cultural background that
+Savannah hackers need in order to properly do their job.
+
+
 @section The current situation
 
 Currently, project approvals are underway.
@@ -1006,18 +1018,93 @@
 
 @section Overview of the approval process
 
+When a user wants to host a project at Savannah, he clicks on the ``Register 
project'' link in the menu on the left. He is then ask a number of questions, 
including:
 
address@hidden
address@hidden Name of the project (real name and system name)
address@hidden License
address@hidden Technical general description
address@hidden Link to a source code archive (or @dfn{tarball})
address@hidden Dependencies
address@hidden Comments
address@hidden itemize
 
address@hidden Approval Policies
+A project is created in the Savannah database, and marked as
+'Pending'. It is not created for real on the system yet.
 
-Savannah does not host any software, and not even any free software.
+An e-mail is sent to savannah-hackers@@gnu.org to notify the staff.
 
-When we point you to an URL, it is important that actually read its
-contents. Most often, it is technical or cultural background that
-Savannah hackers need in order to properly do their job.
+Note: at the moment, we maintain a list of submitted project using
+these notifications. We may move the notifications to a separate list
+for ease of use and tasks separation in the near future.
+
+Another way to see the pending requests require Savannah administrator
+privileges, accessible in the main menu under 'Pending projects'. One
+drawback is that it displays all the pending projects on the same
+page; as we have more than 500 projects to review at the moment, the
+page takes a long while to load (it you are willing to fix this, go
+ahead!).
+
+That page also displays the projects descriptions. It doesn't wrap
+lines, though, so it may be better to ask one of the Savannah hackers
+a mailbox with all the projects registrations notifications
+(especially if you did not receive them yourself).
+
+Another lighter but less complete way to list pending projects is to use
address@hidden://savannah.gnu.org/@/admin/@/grouplist.php?status=P}
+
+If you are not administrator (eg, you are a new team member), then an
+admin will do the (very few) steps that use the web interface. Most of
+the approval process is done manually using e-mail and mailing lists,
+and you do not need any privilege to use those :)
+
+Then at a point the project is reviewed by a Savannah hacker. If the
+project meats our approval criteria, the project is accepted. Else,
+depending on the closeness to these criteria and the expected delay to
+fix the project, either a mail conversation ensues, either the project
+is deleted and people are asked to submit it again.
+
+We feel that it is not very nice for the user to resubmit the project
+each time there is something wrong. It can be a bit more difficult to
+track, though. It is up to you to decide how to handle that part.
+
+The main issues is that people cannot modify or add comments to their
+project registrations. Enhencing this feature could be a good thing in
+Savane, feel free to do so ;)
+
+If the project is refused, we mark it as 'Deleted' using the
+administrator web interface, and the system will removed it via a
+cron_job.
+
+(Note: this is not enabled at the moment, deletion has to be done
+manually if necessary).
+
+(Note: the ``Delete project'' button in the ``Pending projects'' page
+is deleting the project from te pending list, but not from the system,
+so you had better not use it at the moment).
+
+If the project is accepted, we mark it as 'Active', still using the
+administrator web interface, and the system will create it within 30
+minutes. We also click on a link that sends the user instructions on
+how to use his Savannah project account.
+
+Note: we currently maintain a list of pending, currently reviewed, and
+approved project. This is necessary because we recently started
+approving new projects, and would like to keep track of which projects
+were accepted in the post-crack slightly different Savannah
+architecture.
+
+
address@hidden Approval Policies
 
+Savannah does not host all kinds of software, and not even all kinds
+of free software.
 
address@hidden Licenses
+We will also point you to the functions from savannah.el to use as
+canned text in your replies to save time. Feel free to adapt these
+texts to the current project if needed.
+
address@hidden Program License
 
 Savannah only hosts code that is compatible with the GNU General
 Public License (GPL). The idea is that users can be sure that they can
@@ -1031,6 +1118,8 @@
 licenses, telling whether they are compatible with the GNU GPL, and
 whether they are Free Software licenses.
 
address@hidden Dependencies
+
 Dependencies are pieces of software used or required by the project,
 and not hosted at Savannah. We require that this dependencies be Free
 Software, ie compatible with the Free Software Definition. They can be
@@ -1059,6 +1148,11 @@
 once (as well as some other common licenses such as the GPL,
 MIT/mBSD/X11, Affero, ZLib and Perl's).
 
+If you are unsure of the compatibility of a license, please ask the
+GPL Compliance Lab at @email{licensing@@gnu.org}.
+
address@hidden Perl and the Dual GPL&Artistic License
+
 Speaking of Perl, it is dual-licensed, under both the GNU GPL and the
 Artistic v1 license (Perl 6 is planned to be released under the
 Artistic License 2.0, which is GPL-compatible). The latter is
@@ -1077,8 +1171,30 @@
 already a GNU project for the same task, it would be good to recommend
 it to the submitted project's author.
 
-If you are unsure of the compatibility of a license, please ask the
-GPL Compliance Lab at @email{licensing@@gnu.org}.
address@hidden Java
+
+[savannah.el: sv-problem-java]
+
+Java is a non-free dependency that a lot of people use, even when
+writing free software. It is very similar to using Qt, when Qt was
+non-free (it is released under the GPL now).
+
+Unlike TrollTech, Sun is not willing to release Java under a free
+license for now. However, there is now a Java compiler in GCC, GCJ
+(GNU Compiler for Java), as well as a Java bycode interpreter, GIJ
+(GNU Interpreter for Java). The Kaffe JVM (Java Virtual Machine) is
+another free JVM. The GNU Classpath project aims at writing a free
+replacement for the Java API, and GNU Classpathx is doing the same for
+commonly used libraries. These projects are not complete - mainly,
+there is no Swing support yet.
+
+See @uref{www.gnu.org/software/java/} for more details.
+
+Java projects hosted at Savannah must be run using a free Java
+environment. People at GNU Classpath may want to help project
+submitters to make their project work that way [NEEDS CONFIRMATION].
+
address@hidden Legal Notices
 
 We require that all non-trivial files in a project contain a copyright
 notice and a license notice. This process is described is
@@ -1087,6 +1203,16 @@
 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/@/prep/@/maintain_8.html} and
 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/@/prep/@/maintain_9.html}.
 
+Here are some steps to perform when checking the notices:
address@hidden
address@hidden Check the presence of the copyright notice in the top of the file
address@hidden Check that it is well formed, as described in the document above
address@hidden Check the presence of the license notice in the top of the file
address@hidden Be sure to make the difference between an old-style BSD license 
(with advertising clause) and a new-style one (MIT-like).
address@hidden If it is the [L]GPL, check that it is mentioning the new FSF 
adress (Temple Place at Boston).
address@hidden If is is the GPL, be sure that it mentions 'version 2 or later'. 
We do not accept version 2 only.
address@hidden itemize
+
 
 @subsection Kind of software
 
@@ -1138,6 +1264,15 @@
 interesting materials about software patents and the damages they
 cause.
 
address@hidden Mirroring
+
+We only accept projects if they are going to use Savannah as their
+primary development platform. We fill that mirroring can be done using
+services simpler than Savannah.
+
+For example, check:
address@hidden://mail.gna.org/@/public/@/project/@/2004-05/@/msg00001.html}
+
 
 @section GNU projects
 
@@ -1149,6 +1284,10 @@
 type if the GNU evaluation team accepts the project as part of the GNU
 project.
 
+Note that users cannot modify the project type of their registration
+(unless they resubmit it). You will do the project type change just
+before setting the project as 'Active'.
+
 Also, we have this FAQ entry about the meaning of being a GNU package:
 
@uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/@/faq/@/?question=What_does_it_mean_to_become_a_GNU_package.txt}
 
@@ -1156,55 +1295,28 @@
 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/@/evaluation/@/evaluation.html}
 (I'll make the FAQ a rediction soon)
 
+Also note that only GNU projects can have 'gnu' in their name. If the
+project is approved as non-GNU (even if the project is requesting
+review by the GNU evaluation team), you have to ask the user for a new
+system name. Renaming is only possible via the web interface before to
+turn a project active. It can be done later, though; just check this
+document :)
+
+Not all 'GNU' registrations are requests to be part of GNU, some are
+already part of it.  You can see if a project is already part of the
+GNU project by looking on fencepost in /gnuorg/gd/maintainers. You
+need a fencepost account. If you are part of the GNU project or are a
+not-so-newbie Savannah hacker, you can ask account[s?]@@gnu.org for
+one. Else, you can ask one Savannah hacker to send you this file.
+
+If you can't find it in there, you can use the link to ask
+maintainers@@gnu if it is a gnu package.
 
 @section Rudy's Little HOWTO
 
 @verbatim
-Log on to the savannah website, people who are part of the savannah
-administration project (admins only I guess) will be able to moderate
-projects.
-
-When logged in, you will see on the left a link "Pending projects".
-Click on it.
-
-Now you will be taken to a page that lists all pending projects.  Thus
-now about 400.  Maybe we should fix this, so it only shows the first
-20.  As it takes ages to load the page.
-
-You can read the text the project submitted.  But on this page it
-does't line wrap (so it seems).  Per project you can click on the
-"manage/edit registration " link.
-
-If you accept a project (see furter for the guidelins to accept a
-project). follow this link.  On the following page select the rigt
-section (gnu/nongnu/gug), if the user requested an other system name,
-change it to that, set the status to "active", set the public flag,
-check if the license is correct. 
 
-Then click on the first update button
-
-I don't know -- I haven;t tested this new interface yet -- what
-happens next, if you go to a next page or the current page is
-reloaded.
-
-Anyway, when the page is reloaded click the "send instruction" mail,
-or push the back button and then click on the link.
-
-If the project requested to be included into the gnu project, push
-that link too.  Do this only if the project is complient with savannah
-policy.
-
-
-You can see if a project is already part of the gnu project by looking
-on fencepost in /gd/maintainers.something (use find :)).
-
-If you can't find it in there, you can use the link to ask
address@hidden if it is a gnu package.  If the user posted a mail
-that rms dubbed his project gnu, you can believe it.
-
-If you don't accept a project, don't use the button "delete project",
-because it doesn't work.  (it didn't work with the old savanah, at
-least).  To delete a project type the following as root on savannah:
+To delete a project type the following as root on savannah:
 
 sv_register_discard project_name --user="address@hidden" --comment="reason"
 
@@ -1272,51 +1384,16 @@
 - check if the COPYING file is present and that it is intact
   (sv-project-license-truncated).  Make sure the new address of the
   FSF is being used.
-- check if every source file has the license header in it.  It must be
-  correctly applied.  
-- check if no gif files are present
-
-Also note that we don't host a GNU/Linux os variant.  We don't accept
-projects with a gpl imcompatible license
-
-
-
-
--- 
-Rudy Gevaert                address@hidden     
address@hidden verbatim
-
-The file for GNU maintainers is /gd/gnuorg/maintainers (of course, one need a 
-fencepost account).
 
 The .el file mentioned is present in Savane's distribution 
(@file{backend/gnu-specific/savannah.el}).
-
-We do not accept projects for mirroring only:
address@hidden
-Interesting mail from Mathieu Roy here:
-https://mail.gna.org/public/project/2004-05/msg00001.html
-and conclusion here:
-https://mail.gna.org/public/project/2004-05/msg00002.html
-about projects that only use our platforms as a download mirror.
-
-I admit I was puzzled when I saw a registration for aMule at both Savannah and 
-Gna! almost simultaneously a few weeks ago...
 @end verbatim
-(sylvain)
 
 
 @section Mathieu's Little HOWTO
 
 @verbatim
-How admins should handle project approval? 
-
 (Add-on to general comments made in section 'Howto manage users')
 
-We assume that you are familiar enough with common free software
-licences. The reference is
-http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html , you should always
-check this page in doubt.
-
 
 ********************* THEORY ***********************
 
@@ -1472,7 +1549,7 @@
 
 @item Savane
 is the software that is the glue to all services provided by Savannah,
-consisted of a PHP web frontend and a Perl cron
+consisting of a PHP web frontend and a Perl cron
 backend. @uref{http://gna.org/projects/savane/}
 
 @end itemize