= Collaboration on !GitHub =

This page gives guidelines for distributed Django development. It is not officially part of the Django development process.

== Prerequisites ==

=== 1. Install git ===

If you want to learn more about `git`, see [http://git-scm.com/ the git webpage] or [http://git.or.cz/gitwiki/GitCheatSheet the git cheat sheet] for a quick overview.

==== Ubuntu ====

As of January 2009, the latest `git` release is 1.6.1. As there are many improvements compared with older releases (notably, a single executable), it is advisable to use this version instead of the ones provided in the Ubuntu release repositories. There is [https://launchpad.net/~smartlounge/+archive a personal package archive] that provides `git` 1.6.1 backports to all Ubuntu releases since Hardy.

Installation instructions:  
 1. add the following line to `/etc/apt/sources.list` (substituting `UBUNTU_RELEASE_NAME` with the Ubuntu release you are using):
 {{{
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/smartlounge/ubuntu UBUNTU_RELEASE_NAME main
 }}}
 1. install `git`:
 {{{
$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install git
 }}}
 1. verify that the correct version was installed:
 {{{
$ git --version
git version 1.6.1
 }}}

=== 2. Register an account on !GitHub ===

Go to https://github.com/signup/free and follow the instructions.

== Work process ==

The process should be managed with the '''Dictator and Lieutenants Workflow''', described at http://whygitisbetterthanx.com/#any-workflow.
 * ''Dictators'' are core Django developers, who eventually merge the `git` branches back to Django trunk.
 * ''Lieutenants'' are developers, who take the responsibility of steering and coordinating the work on a large feature (e.g. aggregates).
 * ''Contributors'' are developers who contribute -- under lieutenant's guidance -- to the development of the feature.

=== Lieutenant ===

 1. Create a fork of the automatically updated Django SVN trunk mirror on !GitHub by clicking ''fork'' at http://github.com/django/django/tree/master
 1. Describe the design of the feature you implement on !GitHub project wiki, list tasks that need tackling so that contributors get a clear overview and pick tasks easily.
 1. Clone the fork to your workstation:
 {{{
git clone git@github.com:YOUR_NICK_HERE/django.git
 }}}
 1. Add the upstream Django SVN mirror for tracking:
 {{{
cd django
git remote add upstream git://github.com/django/django.git
git fetch upstream
 }}}
 1. Work on code, commit locally as needed:
 {{{
git commit -a -m "Implemented foo."
 }}}
 1. Publish changes to your public repository:
 {{{
git push
 }}}
 1. When the upstream Django SVN mirror is updated, pull the updates from it (fetching and merging in one step): 
 {{{
git pull upstream master
 }}}

=== Contributor ===