Re: Joining the team

I have added this to the developer's FAQ.

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> On Friday 22 June 2001 11:55, P. Dwayne Miller wrote:
> > If someone was interested in joining the development team, where would
> > they...
> > -  Find a description of the open source development process used by the
> > PostgreSQL team.
> 
> Read HACKERS for six months (or a full release cycle, whichever is longer).  
> Really.  HACKERS _is_the process.  The process is not well documented (AFAIK 
> -- it may be somewhere that I am not aware of) -- and it changes continually.
> 
> > -  Find the development environment (OS, system, compilers, etc)
> > required to develop code.
> 
> Developers Corner on the website has links to this information.  The 
> distribution tarball itself includes all the extra tools and documents that 
> go beyond a good Unix-like development environment.  In general, a modern 
> unix with a modern gcc, GNU make or equivalent, autoconf (of a particular 
> version), and good working knowledge of those tools are required.
> 
> > -  Find an area or two that needs some support.
> 
> The TODO list.
> 
> You've made the first step, by finding and subscribing to HACKERS.  Once you 
> find an area to look at in the TODO, and have read the documentation on the 
> internals, etc, then you check out a current CVS,write what you are going to 
> write (keeping your CVS checkout up to date in the process), and make up a 
> patch (as a context diff only) and send to the PATCHES list, prefereably.  
> 
> Discussion on the patch typically happens here.  If the patch adds a major 
> feature, it would be a good idea to talk about it first on the HACKERS list, 
> in order to increase the chances of it being accepted, as well as toavoid 
> duplication of effort.  Note that experienced developers with a proven track 
> record usually get the big jobs -- for more than one reason.  Also note that 
> PostgreSQL is highly portable -- nonportable code will likely be dismissed 
> out of  hand. 
> 
> Once your contributions get accepted, things move from there. Typically, you 
> would be added as a developer on the list on the website when one of the 
> other developers recommends it.  Membership on the steering committee is by 
> invitation only, by the other steering committee members, from what I have 
> gathered watching froma distance.
> 
> I make these statements from having watched the process for over two years.
> 
> To see a good example of how one goes about this, search the archives for the 
> name 'Tom Lane' and see what his first post consisted of, and where he took 
> things.  In particular, note that this hasn't been _that_ long ago -- and his 
> bugfixing and general deep knowledge with this codebase is legendary.  Take a 
> few days to read after him.  And pay special attention to both the sheer 
> quantity as well as the painstaking quality of his work.  Both are in high 
> demand.
> 
> Hope that helps!
> --
> Lamar Owen
> WGCR Internet Radio
> 1 Peter 4:11
> 
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