Re: [Qemu-devel] KVM call agenda for April 05

[Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 7:01 AM, Brad Hards <bradh@frogmouth.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 5 Apr 2011 05:59:27 am Anthony Liguori wrote:
>> - Trivial patch monkeys^Wteam -- this is an idea Stefan and I have been
>> kicking around to help some of the trivial patches get more attention on
>> the mailing list
> I saw a wiki page (http://wiki.qemu.org/Contribute/TrivialPatches) that I
> assumed was historical - bad assumption given the page history of course.
>
> As an outsider / new contributor, it isn't easy to see how to get patches
> noticed, and how different things should feed into the tree(s). For instance,
> is my patch being ignored because I forgot the Signed-off-by line, or is the
> maintainer away for a month? Or am I just not "in the club"?
>
> It isn't even easy to figure out what trees there are (apart from the main one)
> and a google search for "qemu git" produces some misleading links to savannah
> and places other than git://git.qemu.org/qemu.git. It would also be useful if
> http://git.qemu.org/git/qemu.git/ and http://git.qemu.org/qemu.git worked
> again. Perhaps a list of main trees on the wiki or in MAINTAINERS might help?
> Even a list of obsolete trees might be useful.
>
> It would probably also help if there was a little more documentation on the
> process bits (e.g. whether I need a public git tree, or mailing patches is
> always preferred, and maybe some links to better-practice git setups to ensure
> patches make it through OK) and about what is expected in terms of code
> quality and resubmission. It would also help to have some explanatory text for
> some of the architectural docs that are available (e.g. there is a lot of
> words on the wiki about QED, and I guess its some kind of storage / disk
> thing, but I have no idea why its important, or even if I should know about
> it).
>
> I've tried to expand
> http://wiki.qemu.org/Documentation/GettingStartedDevelopers to cover my
> personal "a-ha" moments, but if I knew enough to write it all, then I'd
> probably be more interested in getting code written too...
>
> I'm sorry I have more complaints than useful suggestions here. I can only say
> I'll hang around (mail / IRC) as long as I feel somewhat welcome and write up
> any insights you can offer.

I sounds like you've looked into the wiki a lot and have found the
information incomplete, confusing, or outdated.  The good news is that
QEMU development is very active, there is a healthy community with
both long term and first-time contributors.  We just need to
communicate a coherent and up-to-date picture so it is easier to join
the community.

The guide to submitting patches is here (you've probably already seen it):
http://wiki.qemu.org/Contribute/SubmitAPatch

Anthony: Could you please add "Contribute/SubmitAPatch|Submit a patch"
to http://wiki.qemu.org/MediaWiki:Sidebar?  By making the page easily
discoverable (like "Report a bug") it will be easier for people to
submit patches correctly.  I don't have permission to edit the
sidebar, it seems to be a special page :).

Brad: Are there specific points you'd like to see documented to which
you don't know the answer?  Maybe I can help.

Stefan