+
+
+* Improving XEmacs
+=================
+
+** Creating patches for submission
+==================================
+
+All patches to XEmacs that are seriously proposed for inclusion (eg,
+bug fixes) should be mailed to <xemacs-patches@xemacs.org>. Each
+patch will be reviewed by the patches review board, and will be
+acknowledged and added to the distribution, or rejected with an
+explanation. Progress of the patch is tracked on the XEmacs Patches
+mailing list, which is open subscription. (If a patch is simply
+intended to facilitate discussion, "I mean something that works like
+this but this is really rough", a CC to XEmacs Patches is optional,
+but doesn't hurt.)
+
+Patches to XEmacs Lisp packages should be sent to the maintainer of
+the package. If the maintainer is listed as `XEmacs Development Team'
+patches should be sent to <xemacs-patches@xemacs.org>.
+
+Emailed patches should preferably be sent in MIME format and quoted
+printable encoding (if necessary).
+
+The simplest way to create well-formed patches is to use CVS and
+Didier Verna's Patcher library (available as patcher.el in the
+xemacs-devel package). Patcher is new and requires some setup, but
+most of the core developers are now using it for their own patches.
+Patcher also can be configured to create patches for several projects,
+and recognize the project from the directory it is invoked in. This
+makes it a useful general tool (as long as XEmacs-style patches are
+accepted at your other projects, which is likely since they conform to
+the GNU standards).
+
+When making patches by hand, please use the `-u' option, or if your
+diff doesn't support it, `-c'. Using ordinary (context-free) diffs
+are notoriously prone to error, since line numbers tend to change when
+others make changes to the same source file.
+
+An example of the `diff' usage:
+
+$ diff -u OLDFILE NEWFILE
+
+-or-
+
+$ diff -c OLDFILE NEWFILE
+
+Also, it is helpful if you create the patch in the top level of the
+XEmacs source directory:
+
+$ cp -p lwlib/xlwmenu.c lwlib/xlwmenu.c.orig
+ hack, hack, hack....
+$ diff -u lwlib/xlwmenu.c.orig lwlib/xlwmenu.c
+
+Also note that if you cut & paste from an xterm to an XEmacs mail buffer
+you will probably lose due to tab expansion. The best thing to do is
+to use an XEmacs shell buffer to run the diff commands, or ...
+M-x cd to the appropriate directory, and issue the command `C-u M-!' from
+within XEmacs.
+
+Patches should be as single-minded as possible. Mammoth patches can
+be very difficult to place into the right slot. They are much easier
+to deal with when broken down into functional or conceptual chunks.
+The patches submitted by Kyle Jones and Hrvoje Niksic are stellar
+examples of how to Do The Right Thing.
+
+Each patch should be accompanied by an update to the appropriate
+ChangeLog file. Guidelines for writing ChangeLog entries is governed
+by the GNU coding standards. Please see
+ http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards_toc.html [Change Logs section]
+for details.
+
+Do not submit context diffs (either -c or -u) of ChangeLogs. Because
+of the "stack" nature of ChangeLogs (new entries are always pushed on
+the top), context diffs will fail to apply more often than they
+succeed. Simply cutting and pasting the entry from an Emacs buffer to
+the mail buffer (beware of tab expansion!) is probably easiest. The
+Patcher library also will set up your ChangeLogs for you, and copy
+them to the mail. Contextless unified diffs (-U 0) are also
+acceptable but perhaps more trouble than they are worth.
+
+*** Patch discussion etiquette
+-------------------------------
+
+If you intend a patch for _application_ to the sources as is, _always_
+post it to xemacs-patches, even if there are minor points you would
+like to have discussed by others. Not doing so will resulting in
+patches getting "lost". If you expect that the patch will not be
+acceptable, but are using it to stimulate discussion, then don't post
+to xemacs-patches. Intermediate cases are up to your judgement;
+unless you're sure you'll follow up with a "real" patch, better to err
+on the side of posting to xemacs-patches.
+
+Discussion of the _content_ of the patch (ie responses to reviewer
+comments beyond "that's right, ok, I'll do it your way") should _always_
+be posted to xemacs-beta or to xemacs-design. If you're not sure
+which is more appropriate, send it to xemacs-beta. That is the most
+widely read channel.
+
+If discussion results in a bright idea and you come up with a new
+patch, normally you should post it to both mailing lists. The people
+discussing on XEmacs Beta will want to know the outcome of the thread,
+and you need to submit to XEmacs Patches as the "list of record."
+
+If the old patch has been applied to CVS, then just submit the new one
+as usual. If it has not been applied, then it is best to submit a new
+patch against CVS. If possible do this as a reply to the original
+patch post, or something following it in the thread. (The point is to
+get the original patch post's Message-ID in your References header.)
+In this case, also use the keyword SUPERSEDES in the Subject header to
+indicate that the old patch is no longer valid, and that this one
+replaces it.
+
+These rules will result in a fair number of cross posts, but we don't
+yet have a better way to handle that.
+
+Note: Developers should never post to xemacs-patches unless there is a
+patch in the post. We plan to enforce this with an automatic filter.
+
+The exceptions are administrative. If you have commit authorization,
+then post a short COMMIT notice to xemacs-patches when you commit to
+CVS. Members of the Review Board will also post short notices of
+administrative action (APPROVE, VETO, QUERY, etc) to xemacs-patches.
+
+** Large contributions
+======================
+
+Perhaps you have a whole new mode, or a major synchronization with
+upstream for a neglected package, or a synchronization with GNU Emacs
+you would like to contribute. We welcome such contributions, but they
+are likely to be relatively controversial, generate more comments and
+requests for revision, and take longer to integrate. Please be
+patient with the process.
+
+*** Updates to existing packages
+--------------------------------
+
+If a package has gotten a bit out of date, or even started to bitrot,
+we welcome patches to synchronize it with upstream/GNU Emacs versions.
+Most packages end up varying somewhat from their GNU origins. See
+"Syncing with GNU Emacs" for hints. Note that if you do a reasonably
+large amount of syncing with GNU Emacs, you should log this in the
+file itself as well as in the ChangeLog.
+
+If the package is important to you, please consider becoming the
+maintainer. (See "New packages", below.)
+
+*** New packages
+----------------
+
+If you have a new mode or other large addition that does not require
+changes to the core, please consider submitting it as a package, and
+becoming the maintainer. You get direct commit privileges to the
+repository for your package, "approval" privileges for your own
+patches as well as third party patches to your package, and some
+degree of veto power over patches you don't like. In return, you are
+expected to maintain friendly liaison with the upstream developer (if
+you aren't the upstream developer), keep watch on the XEmacs Patches
+list for relevant patches, and be available by email to other
+developers for discussion of changes that impact your package. It's
+also a pretty standard route to the "core" development group, where we
+have plenty of extra work waiting for volunteers.
+
+You don't have to become the maintainer, but it virtually ensures
+rapid acceptance of the package.
+
+For help in creating new packages, see the (rather sparse) discussions
+in the XEmacs User's Guide and the Lisp Reference Manual. The XEmacs
+Package Release Engineer (Ville Skyttä <ville.skytta@xemacs.org> is
+currently serving with Peter Brown <rendhalver@users.sourceforge.net>
+assisting; Steve Youngs <youngs@xemacs.org> and Stephen Turnbull
+<stephen@xemacs.org> also can help) is the most likely source of advice.
+
+*** Syncing with GNU Emacs
+--------------------------
+
+Syncing with GNU Emacs is an important activity. Although each
+version has its advantages and areas of concentration, it is very
+desirable that common functionality share specifications and APIs.
+When porting GNU code to XEmacs, the following points should be given
+special attention:
+
+ o Recent GNU Emacsen cannot be built without Mule, but XEmacs can.
+ Make sure your changes do not assume the presence of Mule.
+
+ o GNU Emacs nomenclature often differs from that of XEmacs.
+ Sometimes syncing the names is desirable, other times not.
+
+ o GNU Emacs functionality often differs from that of XEmacs.
+ Syncing functionality is often controversial.
+
+It is important that you let other developers know that
+synchronization has taken place, to what degree, and when. For this
+purpose, we use comments of the form
+
+/* Synched up with: FSF 21.3 by Stephen Turnbull */
+
+in the source file itself, as the last element of the prefatory
+material (copyright notice and commentary). Obviously the comment
+marker needs to be changed to leading semicolons for Lisp, but
+otherwise the format is the same.
+
+Of course you should note syncing as the purpose in the ChangeLog,
+too. But entries get buried deep in the ChangeLog file, and may even
+get moved to a separate ChangeLog.OLD file for rarely synched files.
+
+Rather than dates we use the version of GNU Emacs to sync to. If the
+synchronization is partial, add a new comment describing what has
+actually been synched, leaving the description of the last full sync
+in place. At each full sync, remove all previous synchronization
+comments.
+
+This applies to Lisp that we have broken out into packages, but
+remains in the GNU Emacs core, as well to core Lisp in XEmacs.