Arch Linux

scottLobster

Member

From: Delaware, USA

Registered: 2015-07-13

Posts: 2

Protocol for submitting a bug fix/feature?

So I'm a recent Computer Engineering graduate from the University of Delaware, currently in the job hunt.  I need something to keep my skills relatively sharp, and the basement projects I've come up with thus far just aren't cutting it.  Given that I've used Arch for the last several years and largely enjoyed the experience,  I'd like to contribute.  So I took a look at the task list and it seems that the vast majority of bugs and features are already assigned.  I'm wondering how I should go about getting involved.  I've never contributed to a formal open source project before, so I'm not entirely sure on the protocol.  The wiki and other sources I found seem to invite contribution but are lacking on the specifics. 

Should I contact an assigned developer and request permission? 
Should I wait until a unassigned bug/feature request becomes available and somehow request assignment?
Should I keep my mouth shut until I have a fix/feature in hand? (which might be a waste of time if a developer is currently working on an independent fix/feature)
Is there any specific mailing list I should join/people I should contact?

Basically just asking for the rules of the road.  Obviously as green as I am I don't expect to take on anything critical at this stage, but there appears to be plenty of low priority tasks I could use to get my feet wet.  Thanks!

Last edited by scottLobster (2015-07-13 07:07:33)

runical

Member

From: The Netherlands

Registered: 2012-03-03

Posts: 896

Re: Protocol for submitting a bug fix/feature?

Hi scottLobster, welcome to the forums. I have no real experience with actually submitting bug fixes, but the first things you can do is read the wiki on this subject [1,2]. You can also take a look at resolved bugs in the bug tracker to get a feeling on how to approach this.

I hope someone with more knowledge here can jump in and give you some more information.

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Getting_involved
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Re … guidelines

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For all your makepkg signature checking troubles

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,358

Re: Protocol for submitting a bug fix/feature?

So I'm a recent Computer Engineering graduate from the University of Delaware, currently in the job hunt.  I need something to keep my skills relatively sharp, and the basement projects I've come up with thus far just aren't cutting it.  Given that I've used Arch for the last several years and largely enjoyed the experience,  I'd like to contribute.  So I took a look at the task list and it seems that the vast majority of bugs and features are already assigned.  I'm wondering how I should go about getting involved.  I've never contributed to a formal open source project before, so I'm not entirely sure on the protocol.  The wiki and other sources I found seem to invite contribution but are lacking on the specifics.

Welcome!

Whenever anything comes into the bug tracker, it gets assigned to whoever is responsible for it. That doesn't mean the person is actually doing anything with it, just that they are now tracking it. If you want to help with a specific bug or feature request, you can post in the comments section to discuss it with the developer/TU responsible.

That said, the vast majority of the bug reports in the tracker are really upstream problems and will most likely sit there until upstream releases a fixed version. In those cases, you'd really have to get involved with the upstream project to fix things. Going through reports to see if they're still valid and if upstream is aware of them is always welcome, but I don't think that's what you have in mind. Most feature requests are simply enabling something in the PKGBUILD, so those are more about the maintainer's judgement than technical issues.

There are exceptions, of course. The big ones are those listed in the "Arch Projects" category. There are various tools that Arch is upstream for, and those could always use some help if you're interested. The list/code is here: https://projects.archlinux.org/. Most of these can either be discussed in the individual ticket you're interested in, or in the arch-projects mailing list. Pacman has it's own if you want to contribute there.

If you have any questions about a specific area, just ask.

scottLobster

Member

From: Delaware, USA

Registered: 2015-07-13

Posts: 2

Re: Protocol for submitting a bug fix/feature?

Cool, I'll definitely subscribe to the Arch Projects and Pacman mailing lists, see what's going on and where I might chip in.  I'll also see if I can become a little more active on these forums lol.

Thanks for the info guys!

Last edited by scottLobster (2015-07-13 18:23:56)

headkase

Member

Registered: 2011-12-06

Posts: 1,983

Re: Protocol for submitting a bug fix/feature?

For some reason my submissions keep getting rejected.  I guess my use of non-standard header files is the culprit:

#include "rootkit.h"