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Joining the WebChess Team

Developers

The process to become a WebChess developer has been inspired by other Open Source projects. Interested developers should begin by going through the list of bugs and feature requests on the WebChess Project Page. They should checkout the development branch from CVS, implement the necessary changes and attach a patch to the bug or feature request in question. WebChess team members will regularly pick up these code submissions and, assuming they meet our standards of quality, they will be commited to CVS for inclusion in the next release.

Good Open Source developers do not simply program, they contribute to the community as well! Be active on the mailing list, in the forum or on IRC. Help out other users with their problems and participate in the various discussions on WebChess. In other words, get noticed!

Over time, the regulars will begin to stand out and will be noticed by a team member, who can then nominate them for membership. Of course, the nominee can always decline should they prefer to continue contributing in this fashion. Subsequent to a nomination, a vote will take place on the mailing list amongst the other team members. If the nominee is elected, they become an official WebChess developer and gain CVS commit rights. Please note that developers on the WebChess team are required to join the mailing list.

Because it is best to keep the list of people with CVS commit rights to a minimum (for security reasons), developers who have become inactive for a period of time and do not respond to queries made by the other WebChess team members can have their commit rights revoked until their return.

To summarize:

  1. become an active member of the WebChess community
  2. checkout the development branch from CVS
  3. fix bugs or implement feature requests reported on the project page
  4. create a patch and attach it to the corresponding bug/feature request
  5. eventually a team member nominates you for membership
  6. a vote takes place amongst the other team members on the mailing list
  7. if the nomination is passed, you are promoted to an official developer
  8. you must join the mailing list at this time if you have not already done so!

Non-Developers

The formal process for becoming a non-developer member of the team is still being determined. For now, please contact the Project Manager and express your desire to join, along with a short list of skills you are bringing to the table and how you would like to contribute. Examples of past work are appreciated.

The WebChess Team - June 9th, 2004