X-Git-Url: http://git.chise.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=etc%2FBETA;h=af0b29a985efedfeb1b7156761356a7aa44ef7bf;hb=8d8fd27a75995ca9516a632126e35df3d7449c0a;hp=26a91fd192493b6b32b7da263007f65aa2138add;hpb=dbf2768f7b146e97e37a27316f70bb313f1acf15;p=chise%2Fxemacs-chise.git diff --git a/etc/BETA b/etc/BETA index 26a91fd..af0b29a 100644 --- a/etc/BETA +++ b/etc/BETA @@ -3,78 +3,51 @@ * Introduction ============== -You are running a potentially unstable version of XEmacs. Please do -not report problems with Beta XEmacs to comp.emacs.xemacs. Report -them to xemacs-beta@xemacs.org. +You are running an experimental version of XEmacs. Please do not +report problems with Beta XEmacs to comp.emacs.xemacs. Report them to +xemacs-beta@xemacs.org. -** Mailing Lists -================ +** XEmacs Beta Mailing List +=========================== -*** XEmacs Beta Mailing List ----------------------------- +*** Subscribing +--------------- -If you are not subscribed to the XEmacs beta list you should be. -Currently all discussion of development issues, including bug reports -and coding discussion, takes place on the XEmacs Beta mailing list. -Only patches and administrative actions regarding patches are sent -elsewhere (to the XEmacs Patches list). +If you are not subscribed to the XEmacs beta list you should be. Send +an email message to xemacs-beta-request@xemacs.org with `subscribe' +(without the quotes) as the BODY of the message. -** XEmacs Patches Mailing List -============================== +*** Unsubscribing +----------------- -XEmacs Patches records proposed changes to XEmacs, and their -disposition. It is open subscription, but only patches and actions by -members of the XEmacs Review Board should be posted to this list. You -can follow progress of your patch by subscribing to the mailing list -or in the archives. +To unsubscribe from the list send an email message to +xemacs-beta-request@xemacs.org with `unsubscribe' (without the quotes) +as the BODY of the message. -** List Administrivia -===================== - -In the descriptions below, the word LIST (all uppercase) is a -variable. Substitute "beta" or "patches" as appropriate (to get -"xemacs-beta" as the mailbox for the XEmacs Beta mailing list, or -http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-beta for its URL). - -The XEmacs mailing lists are managed by the Mailman mailing list -package, and the usual Mailman commands work. Do not send mailing -list requests to the main address (xemacs-LIST@xemacs.org), always -send them to xemacs-LIST-request@xemacs.org. If you have problems -with the list itself, they should be brought to the attention of the -XEmacs Mailing List manager (the same -mailbox, "list-manager", for all lists). All public mailing lists -have searchable archives. The URL is - - http://list-archive.xemacs.org/xemacs-LIST - -*** Managing your subscription via the Web ------------------------------------------- - -Subscription, unsubscription, and options (such as digests and -temporarily suspending delivery) can be accomplished via the web -interface at http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-LIST. - -*** Subscribing by e-mail -------------------------- - -Send an email message to xemacs-LIST-request@xemacs.org with -`subscribe' (without the quotes) as the BODY of the message. +*** Administrivia +----------------- -*** Unsubscribing by e-mail ---------------------------- +The XEmacs beta list is managed by the Majordomo mailing list package, +and the usual Majordomo commands work. Do not send mailing list +requests to the main address (xemacs-beta@xemacs.org), always send +them to xemacs-beta-request@xemacs.org. If you have problems with the +list itself, they should be brought to the attention of the XEmacs +Mailing List manager Jason Mastaler . -Send an email message to xemacs-LIST-request@xemacs.org with -`unsubscribe' (without the quotes) as the BODY of the message. ** Beta Release Schedule ======================== -Betas are now released rather sporadically. We would like to achieve -a weekly release schedule, but personnel availability does not -permit. For access to the most recent code, use CVS (see -http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html for more information). -If you have need for FTP access, please let us know. It will make it -more likely that we release betas more often. +The URL ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/beta/README always contains +the best estimate of when the next beta XEmacs will be released. For +weekend betas the release time is generally in the vicinity of 2PM to +5PM US Pacific Time (Universal Time minus 8 hours). For weekday +betas, the release time is generally in the vicinity of 8PM to +Midnight US Pacific Time on the listed day. + +Betas are nominally a week apart, scheduled on every Saturday. +Midweek releases are made when a serious enough problem warrants it. + ** Reporting Problems ===================== @@ -93,16 +66,11 @@ of problem reporting. Other items which are most important are: problem is actually occurring. 2. Attempt to recreate the problem starting with an invocation of - XEmacs with `xemacs -q -no-site-file -no-autoloads'. Quite often, - problems are due to package interdependencies, and the like. An - actual bug in XEmacs should be reproducible in a default - configuration without loading any special packages (or the one or - two specific packages that cause the bug to appear). If you have - trouble getting anything to work at all with the above invocation, - use `xemacs -q -no-site-file' instead. If you need to load your - user init file or the site file to get the problem to occur, then - it has something to do with them, and you should try to isolate - the issue in those files. + XEmacs with `xemacs -q -no-site-file'. Quite often, problems are + due to package interdependencies, and the like. An actual bug in + XEmacs should be reproducible in a default configuration without + loading any special packages (or the one or two specific packages + that cause the bug to appear). 3. A picture can be worth a thousand words. When reporting an unusual display, it is generally best to capture the problem in a @@ -116,9 +84,7 @@ of problem reporting. Other items which are most important are: ===================== In addition to the normal tar distribution, XEmacs source is now -available via CVS. Please see - - http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html +available via CVS. Please see the URL: . * Compiling Beta XEmacs ======================= @@ -151,7 +117,7 @@ and go play minesweep for a while on an older XEmacs while the binary is rebuilt. ** Building XEmacs from a full distribution -=========================================== +============================================== Locate a convenient place where you have at least 100MB of free space and issue the command @@ -170,10 +136,7 @@ writing: --with-scrollbars=athena3d --with-dialogs=athena3d \ --with-mule --with-xfs --with-xim=xlib -Part of the configure output is a summary that looks something like -the following. (In XEmacs 21.1 and later, this summary is also -available as the file Installation in the top directory of your build -tree, and via the command M-x describe-installation.) +Part of the configure output is a summary that looks something like: uname -a: Linux altair.xemacs.org 2.0.32 #2 Sun Nov 16 18:52:14 PST 1997 i586 @@ -234,18 +197,7 @@ Then type `make' and you should have a working XEmacs. After you have verified that you have a functional editor, fire up your favorite mail program and send a build report to -xemacs-build-reports@xemacs.org. - -Preferrably this is done from XEmacs, following these simple steps: - -M-x customize-group RET build-report RET -M-x build-report RET - -See also -http://www.xemacs.org/Releases/Public-21.2/tester.html#reporting - -If you create the report manually by other means, here is what the -build report should include: +xemacs-build-reports@xemacs.org. The build report should include 1. Your hardware configuration (OS version, etc.) @@ -265,24 +217,85 @@ build report should include: 5. Any other unusual items you feel should be brought to the attention of the developers. +** Creating patches for submission +================================== -* Packages -========== +Patches to XEmacs should be mailed to . +Each patch will be reviewed by the patches review board, and will be +acked and added to the distribution, or rejected with an explanation. + +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 . -[Note: these instructions have been partly updated, but not carefully -reviewed in some time. Caveat tester.] +Emailed patches should preferably be sent in MIME format and quoted +printable encoding (if necessary). -Starting with XEmacs 21.1, much of the functionality of XEmacs has -been unbundled into "the packages." For more information about the -package system, see the Info nodes on Packages (in the XEmacs User -Manual) and on Packaging (in the Lisp Reference). +When making patches, 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. -When bootstrapping XEmacs, you may need to manually install some -packages (at least xemacs-base and efs). These packages are available -by FTP at ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/packages/. +An example of the `diff' usage: -** Binary package installation -============================== +$ 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 + +Each patch should be accompanied by an update to the appropriate +ChangeLog file. Please don't mail patches to ChangeLog because they +have an extremely high rate of failure; just mail us the new part of +the ChangeLog you added. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +** Packages directory on the FTP Site +===================================== + +The packages directory + ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/beta/xemacs-21.0/packages/ + +is divided into subdirectory by the major type of package. + +drwxr-xr-x 2 beta-f beta-f 1024 Oct 10 00:43 binary-packages +drwxr-xr-x 2 beta-f beta-f 512 Oct 10 00:44 package-sources +drwxr-xr-x 2 beta-f beta-f 512 Oct 10 00:44 utils + +** Support Utilities (utils) +============================ + +The utils directory contains tools to deal with current Lisp sources that +have not had yet gotten XEmacs package integration. The script `xpackage.sh' +is used with Quassia Gnus. Edit the appropriate variables at the top of +the script to reflect the local configuration and run it in the top level +directory of a Quassia Gnus source tree to install an update to Quassia Gnus. + +** Binary package installation (binary-packages) +================================================ Prerequisite: XEmacs 21.0-b1. @@ -302,15 +315,16 @@ groups) must be kept in synch. Assuming one is manipulating a directory called `lisp-utils', the command to rebuild the auto-autoloads.el file is: -xemacs -vanilla -batch -l autoload -f batch-update-directory lisp-utils +xemacs-21.0 -vanilla -batch -l autoload -f batch-update-directory lisp-utils The command to rebuild the custom-load.el file is: -xemacs -vanilla -batch -l cus-dep -f Custom-make-dependencies lisp-utils +xemacs-21.0 -vanilla -batch -l cus-dep \ + -f Custom-make-dependencies lisp-utils To bytecompile both of these files the command is: -xemacs -vanilla -batch -f batch-byte-compile \ +xemacs-21.0 -vanilla -batch -f batch-byte-compile \ lisp-utils/auto-autoloads.el lisp-utils/custom-load.el ** Building XEmacs and XEmacs packages from scratch @@ -354,215 +368,3 @@ building this way). **** Install or run in-place. Note that this is in essence what `make all-elc' has always done. - - -* Improving XEmacs -================= - -** Creating patches for submission -================================== - -Patches to XEmacs should be mailed to . -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. - -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 . - -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. (We may split xemacs-beta into code -discussion and stuff that is more relevant to non-developer testers at -some point, but at this point xemacs-beta is the correct place for -this.) - -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 SUPERCEDES 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 is -currently serving with Peter Brown -assisting; Steve Youngs and Stephen Turnbull - 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.