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.
+them to <xemacs-beta@xemacs.org>, preferably with
+'M-x report-xemacs-bug RET'.
** Mailing Lists
================
Only patches and administrative actions regarding patches are sent
elsewhere (to the XEmacs Patches list).
-** XEmacs Patches Mailing List
-==============================
+*** XEmacs Patches Mailing List
+-------------------------------
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
+disposition. It is open subscription, and all patches that are
+seriously proposed for inclusion in XEmacs should be posted here. You
can follow progress of your patch by subscribing to the mailing list
or in the archives.
-** List Administrivia
-=====================
+Besides patches, only actions by members of the XEmacs Review Board
+should be posted to this list. All discussion should be redirected to
+XEmacs Beta or XEmacs Design.
+
+*** XEmacs Design Mailing List
+------------------------------
+
+XEmacs Design is for design discussions such as adding major features
+or whole modules, or reimplementation of existing functions, to XEmacs.
+
+*** 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).
+variable. Substitute "beta", "design", 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
+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 <list-manager@xemacs.org> (the same
mailbox, "list-manager", for all lists). All public mailing lists
http://list-archive.xemacs.org/xemacs-LIST
+Note that the xemacs-LIST-admin address is used internally by the
+Mailman software; it is NOT a synonym for xemacs-LIST-request.
+
*** 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.
+interface at <http://www.xemacs.org/Lists/#xemacs-LIST>.
*** Subscribing by e-mail
-------------------------
-Send an email message to xemacs-LIST-request@xemacs.org with
+Send an email message to <xemacs-LIST-request@xemacs.org> with
`subscribe' (without the quotes) as the BODY of the message.
*** Unsubscribing by e-mail
---------------------------
-Send an email message to xemacs-LIST-request@xemacs.org with
+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.
+We would like to achieve a weekly or fortnightly release cycle (you
+know the Open Source model: release early, release often), and in a
+perfect world that would indeed be the case. There are at least three
+things that often get in the way of that goal: 1) The Release Manager
+has a life outside of XEmacs (hard to believe, I know, but true),
+2) we like to make releases that will build (at least on the Release
+Manager's box), and 3) Murphy likes to throw a spanner in the works
+right when you least expect it (Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong,
+will go wrong).
+
+If you'd like to keep right up to date and ride the bleeding edge, use
+CVS (see <http://www.xemacs.org/Develop/cvsaccess.html>). If you
+can't use CVS for some reason and must use FTP, please let us know.
+it will make it more likely that we release betas more often.
+
** Reporting Problems
=====================
The best way to get problems fixed in XEmacs is to submit good problem
-reports. Since this is beta software, problems are certain to exist.
-Please read through all of part II of the XEmacs FAQ for an overview
-of problem reporting. Other items which are most important are:
+reports, 'M-x report-xemacs-bug RET' will help you do this (assuming
+you have a usable XEmacs). Since this is beta software, problems are
+certain to exist. Please read through all of part II of the XEmacs
+FAQ for an overview of problem reporting. Other items which are most
+important are:
1. Do not submit C stack backtraces without line numbers. Since it
is possible to compile optimized with debug information with GCC
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 -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 -vanilla' 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.
3. A picture can be worth a thousand words. When reporting an
unusual display, it is generally best to capture the problem in a
** Building an XEmacs from patches
==================================
-All beta releases of XEmacs are included with patches from the
-previous version in an attempt to keep bandwidth requirements down.
-Patches should be applied with the GNU patch program in something like
-the following. Let's say you're upgrading XEmacs 20.15-beta10 to
-XEmacs 20.15-beta11 and you have a full unmodified XEmacs 20.15-beta10
-source tree to work with. Cd to the top level directory and issue the
+All beta releases of XEmacs are included with patches from the previous
+version in an attempt to keep bandwidth requirements down. Patches
+should be applied with the GNU patch program in something like the
+following. Let's say you're upgrading XEmacs 21.5-beta9 to XEmacs
+21.5-beta10 and you have a full unmodified XEmacs 21.5-beta9 source
+tree to work with. Change to the top level directory and issue the
shell command:
-$ gunzip -c /tmp/xemacs-20.15-b10-20.15-b11.patch.gz | patch -p1
+$ gunzip -c /tmp/xemacs-21.5.9-21.5.10.patch.gz | patch -p1
After patching, check to see that no patches were missed by doing
$ find . -name \*.rej -print
After seeing that there were no rejections, issue the commands
$ ./config.status --recheck
-$ make beta
+$ make beta > ./beta.err 2>&1
+$ make check > ./xemacs-make-check.err 2>&1
-and go play minesweep for a while on an older XEmacs while the binary
-is rebuilt.
+Redirect the output from make to those files because you'll use them
+later when you send off a build report with 'M-x build-report RET'
** Building XEmacs from a full distribution
-==============================================
+===========================================
Locate a convenient place where you have at least 100MB of free space
and issue the command
-$ gunzip -c /tmp/xemacs-20.15-b11.tar.gz | tar xvf -
+$ gunzip -c /tmp/xemacs-21.5.10.tar.gz | tar xvf -
-(or simply `tar zxvf /tmp/xemacs-20.15-b11.tar.gz' if you use GNU tar).
+(or simply `tar zxvf /tmp/xemacs-21.5.10.tar.gz' if you use GNU tar).
cd to the top level directory and issue an appropriate configure
command. One maintainer uses the following at the time of this
writing:
./configure \
- --cflags="-mpentium -march=pentium -O6 -g -fno-peep-spills" \
- --error-checking=all --debug=yes \
- --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.)
-
-uname -a: Linux altair.xemacs.org 2.0.32 #2 Sun Nov 16 18:52:14 PST 1997 i586
-
-./configure '--cflags=-mpentium -march=pentium -O6 -g -fno-peep-spills' '--error-checking=all' '--debug=yes' '--with-scrollbars=athena3d' '--with-dialogs=athena3d' '--with-mule' '--with-xfs' '--with-xim=xlib'
-
-
-XEmacs 21.0-b34 "Oberhasli-pre2" configured for `i586-pc-linux'.
-
- Where should the build process find the source code? /home/xemacs/xemacs-20.0
- What installation prefix should install use? /usr/local
- What operating system and machine description files should XEmacs use?
- `s/linux.h' and `m/intel386.h'
- What compiler should XEmacs be built with? gcc -mpentium -march=pentium -O6 -g -fno-peep-spills
- Should XEmacs use the GNU version of malloc? yes
- (Using Doug Lea's new malloc from the GNU C Library.)
- Should XEmacs use the relocating allocator for buffers? yes
- What window system should XEmacs use? x11
- Where do we find X Windows header files? /usr/X11/include
- Where do we find X Windows libraries? /usr/X11/lib
- Compiling in support for XAUTH.
- Compiling in support for XPM images.
- Compiling in support for X-Face message headers.
- Compiling in support for GIF image conversion.
- Compiling in support for JPEG image conversion.
- Compiling in support for PNG image conversion.
- Compiling in support for TIFF image conversion.
- Compiling in native sound support.
- Compiling in support for Berkeley DB.
- Compiling in support for GNU DBM.
+ --extra-verbose \
+ --site-prefixes=/usr/local/pgsql:/usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.1 \
+ --dynamic=yes --with-gtk=no --with-gnome=no --with-toolbars \
+ --with-wmcommand --with-athena=next --with-menubars=lucid \
+ --with-scrollbars=athena --with-dialogs=athena --with-widgets=athena \
+ --with-gif --with-sound=native,noesd --with-site-lisp=no \
+ --with-site-modules --pdump --with-mule --with-xfs --debug \
+ --error-checking=all --memory-usage-stats --use-kkcc \
+ --with-clash-detection
+
+Part of the configure output is a summary that looks something
+like the following. (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 RET').
+
+uname -a: Linux eicq 2.4.20 #1 Wed Dec 18 02:14:29 EST 2002 i586 unknown
+
+./configure '--extra-verbose' '--site-prefixes=/usr/local/pgsql:/usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.1' '--dynamic=yes' '--with-gtk=no' '--with-gnome=no' '--with-toolbars' '--with-wmcommand' '--with-athena=next' '--with-menubars=lucid' '--with-scrollbars=athena' '--with-dialogs=athena' '--with-widgets=athena' '--with-gif' '--with-sound=native,noesd' '--with-site-lisp=no' '--with-site-modules' '--pdump' '--with-mule' '--with-xfs' '--debug' '--error-checking=all' '--memory-usage-stats' '--use-kkcc' '--with-clash-detection'
+
+
+XEmacs 21.5-b10 "burdock" (+CVS-20030131) configured for `i586-pc-linux'.
+
+
+Compilation / Installation:
+ Source code location: /usr/local/src/xemacs
+ Installation prefix: /usr/local
+ Additional prefixes: /usr/local/pgsql /usr/local/BerkeleyDB.4.1
+ Operating system description file: `s/linux.h'
+ Machine description file: `m/intel386.h'
+ Compiler: gcc -Wall -Wno-switch -Winline -Wmissing-prototypes -Wsign-compare -Wundef -Wstrict-prototypes -Wshadow -Wmissing-declarations -O1 -ggdb3 -Wall -Wchar-subscripts -Wunused -Wundef -Wshadow -Wsign-compare -Wmissing-declarations -march=k6
+ Relocating allocator for buffers: no
+ GNU version of malloc: yes
+ - Using Doug Lea's new malloc from the GNU C Library.
+
+Window System:
+ Compiling in support for the X window system:
+ - X Windows headers location: /usr/X11/include
+ - X Windows libraries location: /usr/X11/lib
+ - Handling WM_COMMAND properly.
+ Compiling in support for the Athena widget set:
+ - Athena headers location: X11/neXtaw
+ - Athena library to link: neXtaw
+ Using Lucid menubars.
+ Using Athena scrollbars.
+ Using Athena dialog boxes.
+ Using Athena native widgets.
+
+TTY:
Compiling in support for ncurses.
Compiling in support for GPM (General Purpose Mouse).
- Compiling in Mule (multi-lingual) support.
- Compiling in XIM (X11R5+ I18N input method) support.
- Using raw Xlib to provide XIM support.
- Using XFontSet to provide bilingual menubar.
- Compiling in support for Canna on Mule.
- Compiling in support for the WNN input method on Mule.
- Using WNN version 6.
- Compiling in support for OffiX.
- Compiling in support for proper session-management.
- Using Lucid menubars.
- Using Athena-3d scrollbars.
- Using Athena-3d dialog boxes.
- Compiling in DLL support.
- movemail will use "dot-locking" for locking mail spool files.
- Using Lisp_Objects with minimal tagbits.
- Compiling in extra code for debugging.
- Compiling in code for checking XEmacs memory usage.
+
+Images:
+ Compiling in support for GIF images (builtin).
+ Compiling in support for XPM images.
+ Compiling in support for PNG images.
+ Compiling in support for JPEG images.
+ Compiling in support for TIFF images.
+ Compiling in support for X-Face message headers.
+
+Sound:
+ Compiling in support for sound (native).
+
+Databases:
+ Compiling in support for Berkeley database.
+ Compiling in support for PostgreSQL.
+ - Using PostgreSQL header file: libpq-fe.h
+ - Using PostgreSQL V7 bindings.
+
+Internationalization:
+ Compiling in support for Mule (multi-lingual Emacs).
+ Compiling in support for XIM (X11R5+ I18N input method).
+ - Using raw Xlib to provide XIM support.
+ - Using XFontSet to provide bilingual menubar.
+
+Mail:
+ Compiling in support for "dot-locking" mail spool file locking method.
+
+Other Features:
+ Inhibiting IPv6 canonicalization at startup.
+ Compiling in support for dynamic shared object modules.
+ Using the new GC algorithms.
+ Using the new portable dumper.
+ Compiling in support for extra debugging code.
WARNING: ---------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: Compiling in support for runtime error checking.
WARNING: XEmacs will run noticeably more slowly as a result.
-Then type `make' and you should have a working XEmacs.
+Then...
+
+$ make > ./beta.err 2>&1
+$ make check > ./xemacs-make-check.err 2>&1
+
+...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.
+<xemacs-buildreports@xemacs.org>.
-Preferrably this is done from XEmacs, following these simple steps:
+Preferably this is best 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
+<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:
of the developers.
-* Patching XEmacs
+* Packages
+==========
+
+[Note: these instructions have been partly updated, but not carefully
+reviewed in some time. Caveat tester.]
+
+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 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/>.
+
+** Binary package installation
+==============================
+
+Prerequisite: XEmacs 21.0-b1.
+
+Binary packages are complete entities that can be untarred at the top
+level of an XEmacs package hierarchy and work at runtime. To install files
+in this directory, run the command `M-x package-admin-add-binary-package'
+and fill in appropriate values to the prompts.
+
+** Manual procedures for package management
+===========================================
+
+Prerequisite: XEmacs 21.0
+
+When adding and deleting files from a lisp directory the
+auto-autoloads.el (global symbols) and custom-load.el (Customization
+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 \
+ -eval \("setq autoload-package-name \"lisp-utils\""\) \
+ -f batch-update-directory lisp-utils
+
+The command to rebuild the custom-load.el file is:
+
+xemacs -vanilla -batch -f Custom-make-dependencies lisp-utils
+
+To byte-compile both of these files the command is:
+
+xemacs -vanilla -batch -f batch-byte-compile \
+ lisp-utils/auto-autoloads.el lisp-utils/custom-load.el
+
+Of course, being a beta tester, you'd be aware that it is much easier
+to manage your XEmacs packages with PUI.
+
+** Building XEmacs and XEmacs packages from scratch
+===================================================
+
+To build everything completely from scratch isn't hard, just time
+consuming.
+
+*** Step 1 - grab the sources (core and packages)
+
+$ cvs -d :pserver:cvs@cvs.xemacs.org:/pack/xemacscvs login
+ [password: "cvs" (sans quotes)]
+
+$ cvs -d :pserver:cvs@cvs.xemacs.org:/pack/xemacscvs co -d xemacs-21.5 xemacs
+
+$ cvs -d :pserver:cvs@cvs.xemacs.org:/pack/xemacscvs co packages
+
+*** Step 2 - build XEmacs
+
+$ cd xemacs-21.5
+$ ./configure [options...]
+$ make > ./beta.err 2>&1
+$ make check > ./xemacs-make-check.err 2>&1
+
+And optionally:
+
+$ make install > ./xemacs-make-install.err 2>&1
+
+*** Step 3 - build and install the packages
+
+$ cd packages
+$ cp Local.rules.template Local.rules
+
+Then edit Local.rules to suit your needs/environment
+see: (Info-goto-node "(xemacs)Local.rules file") for details about
+this file.
+
+And then:
+
+$ make install
+
+* Improving XEmacs
=================
** Creating patches for submission
==================================
-Patches to XEmacs should be mailed to <xemacs-patches@xemacs.org>.
-Each patch will be reviewed by the patches review board, and will be
+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.
+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'
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.
+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]
+<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
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.
+them to the mail. Context-less unified diffs (-U 0) are also
+acceptable.
*** Patch discussion etiquette
-------------------------------
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;
+to xemacs-patches. Intermediate cases are up to your judgment;
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.)
+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
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
+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.
CVS. Members of the Review Board will also post short notices of
administrative action (APPROVE, VETO, QUERY, etc) to xemacs-patches.
-* Packages
-====================================
-
-[Note: these instructions have been partly updated, but not carefully
-reviewed in some time. Caveat tester.]
-
-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 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/.
-
-** Binary package installation
-================================================
-
-Prerequisite: XEmacs 21.0-b1.
-
-Binary packages are complete entities that can be untarred at the top
-level of an XEmacs package hierarchy and work at runtime. To install files
-in this directory, run the command `M-x package-admin-add-binary-package'
-and fill in appropriate values to the prompts.
-
-** Manual procedures for package management
-===========================================
-
-Prerequisite: XEmacs 21.0
-
-When adding and deleting files from a lisp directory the
-auto-autoloads.el (global symbols) and custom-load.el (Customization
-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
-
-The command to rebuild the custom-load.el file is:
-
-xemacs -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 \
- lisp-utils/auto-autoloads.el lisp-utils/custom-load.el
-
-** Building XEmacs and XEmacs packages from scratch
-===================================================
-
-To build everything completely from scratch (not a high priority as a
-design goal), the following procedure should work. (I don't recommend
-building this way).
-
-*** Phase 1 -- Get a minimal XEmacs binary with mule to build the package
- lisp with.
-
-**** Grab a mule-base tarball and install it into a newly created package
- directory.
-
-**** Configure XEmacs with mule and a package-path including the
- directory created above.
-
-**** Do a `make dist' to build an XEmacs binary.
-
-*** Phase 2 -- Build and install the package lisp.
-
-**** Modify XEmacs.rules for local paths and the XEmacs binary created in
- Phase 1.
-
-**** Do a make from the top level package lisp source directory.[1]
-
-**** Do `make bindist's on all the packages you wish to install and
- remove the byproduct .tar.gz's.
-
-*** Phase 3 -- If necessary, redump XEmacs
- with the packages that require dump-time support and install it.
-
-**** Reconfigure without Mule if you don't wish a Mule-ish XEmacs, and
- rebuild XEmacs.
-
-- or -
-
-**** rm lib-src/DOC src/xemacs; make
-
-**** Install or run in-place.
-
-Note that this is in essence what `make all-elc' has always done.
+** 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 <scop@xemacs.org> is currently
+serving with Norbert Koch <viteno@xemacs.org> assisting; Steve
+Youngs <youngs@xemacs.org> and Stephen Turnbull <stephen@xemacs.org>
+also can help) are the most likely sources 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.
projects / chise / xemacs-chise.git.1 / blobdiff