Re: [HS?]: On gnus developement

[Xavier Maillard <zedek@gnu-rox.org>]

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On 25 jui 2003, Jesper Harder wrote:

>  Xavier Maillard <zedek@gnu-rox.org> writes:
>  
> >  or does it work as I always see here by sending patches and signing
> >  obscur documents to be able to publish them ?
>  
>  Yes (more or less).  Ad copyright assignments: remember SCO.

Oh okay that's just the FSF copyright, right ? 
  
> >  Last but (surely) not least, is there any URL you can recommend to
> >  learn what need to be done (TODO list),
>  
>  There's the file "todo" in the top-level Gnus directory.  But it's
>  not terribly up to date -- one of the items is
>  
>  * Go through the todo list and remove items already done.

Erf ;) I have alrready red the TODO list but I really didn't see what
have been done ;) 
  
>  (which would be a useful thing to do, btw.)  

sure ;)
  
>  You can also grep the sources for the string "Fixme" (or "FIXME") for
>  some problems that would be nice to have fixed.

That's an idea. I will try to list all those entries form the source
and try to update the TODO list.
  
>  Some other random suggestions:
>  
>  o Fix bugs.  Fix bugs.  Fix bugs.  Read <news:gnus.bugs> (and the
>  other Gnus groups) and try fix bugs that people report.

As I am not good enough to help people on this "channel", I really
can't see how hard would it be to help people fighting bugs. But who
knows ? Maybe it is my destiny ;)
  
>  o Improve the documentation.  Document currently undocumented options
>  and commands.  Write tool-tips for menu items that don't have them.
>  Improve docstrings, make them conform to
>  <info://elisp/Documentation+Tips> where it makes sense.

Better for you (and for me) not to have to touch to the documentation
side ;) My english is still goofy (not native language) and I am not
fan of documentation writing. In fact this is one of my main problem at
work : documentation.
  
>  o Implement a nifty feature you'd like to have.  Steal cool ideas

Yep but AFAIC, Gnus is so powerfull, I don't see/need other things for
instance. In fact there is already so much done, I am not sure I can
find out a new killer-feature to implement ;)

>  from other software -- JWZ has some interesting ideas in:
>  
>  http://www.mozilla.org/blue-sky/misc/199805/intertwingle.html

Will have a look at it.
  
>  Zoë sounds interesting, too (haven't tried it, though):
>  
>  http://guest.evectors.it/zoe/
>  
>  o Verify standards compliance.  Read through some of the standards to
>  which Gnus purports to conform, and verify that we satisfy all
>  SHOULDs and MUSTs, implement missing parts.  Maybe write tests for
>  some evil corner cases which could be useful for regression testing.
>  
>  Two examples: 1) we need a real RC2822 address parser, 2) mailcap
>  parsing (RFC1524) is slightly wrong.
>  

Interesting but I need to read more on those items :) Maybe one day ...

>  o Profile time and memory use, and try reduce it.

Yep. There is little to do.
  
>  o If you have the right paranoid mindset and understanding of
>  security issues: Audit the code related to encryption to make sure
>  it's done in the safest possible way.
  
> >  and how to become a Gnus developer (even if just occasional) ?
>  
>  Send patches/code.  If you contribute enough stuff, people will
>  probably eventually think it's more convenient if you have commit
>  access.

Nice :) Will try to do my best ;) The main idea behind this thread is I
really want to contribute to all project which I take advantage
daily. It has been right for many of them such as videolan, xfce4,
etc...

In fact it is one of my main mental problem :) I like to try to help
out guys on project I daily use even if my contributions are/could be
considerated as not important/useless/small. It is my way to
show/retribute people for doing so good piece of software.

zeDek

-- 
"My suggestion for an Official Usenet Motto: "If you have nothing to
 say,then come on in, this is the place for you, tell us all about it!" 
							Hevard Fosseng

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