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# Contributing to gentoo

## Introduction

One of the advantages to open-source software such as gentoo is that the entire community can contribute to programs they like; since everyone has the source, there really isn't much to it, you can just hack away. I believe this model of software development is a Good Thing, which is why I chose to support it, of course.

## Where Do I Send My Patch?

If you have done some important modification of the gentoo source code and want to share that with the world, you can just go ahead and distribute your own modified version directly. As long as you make your source code available, there's nothing wrong with this. Except for a minor practical detail: it might cause the world to be flooded by various gentoo "mutants". Therefore, one often sends such changes as patches to the maintainer of the package in question. Who is that, then?

As the original author of it, I would like to maintain gentoo for the foreseeable future. Please send any patches to me. Well documented bug fixes are most welcome, followed by nothing, followed by nothing, followed by new features/extensions. The reason for this seemingly negative attitude towards community developing (as opposed to community bug hunting) is simple: gentoo is my pet project at the moment, and I would like to maintain control over what goes into the official version of it. Also, there are a number of features lined up for inclusion; this isn't version 1.0.0! Still, the source is open and the entire program GPL:ed, so there's nothing stopping you from releasing your own version if you find it necessary.

As a matter of fact, I would probably prefer detailed descriptions of any bugs you find, as complete as you can make them, rather than actual code. I fear to loose control over the source code if I start applying other people's patches all over the place. Also, my coding style is seldom compatible with other people's, so any patch code would have to be hand-translated into "my" style before inclusion anyway.

### OK, So Where Do I Send New Stuff, Then?

Please e-mail any gentoo-related things directly to me at emil@obsession.se. Please try to include the word "gentoo" in the subject line, so I can make some sense out of my mailbox! Thanks.