Re: Wannabe Contributor: Questions related to Dev Box setup and other issues

[Mike Stump <mrs at apple dot com>]

On Aug 15, 2006, at 6:11 PM, Mahafuzur Rahaman wrote:
> 1) Any advise on selecting Linux distro?

This is akin to asking ones religion.  :-)  We generally don't push  
religion around here...  gnu.misc.discuss would be the usual place to  
discuss religious questions.  Just select one and follow it, oops, I  
mean, load it...

You didn't ask what editor, but, be sure to use emacs.  :-)


> I will need to make sure that the change is OK for all target
> platform where GCC can be compiled and used. How will
> I ensure that while sitting on a specific platform?

You gotta use your brain here.  It helps if you have experience  
writing portable code.  For example, if you want to add a #include <>,  
don't, unless it is already included in another file of the same  
class.  If you want to anyway, you'll have to know if it is portable  
and how to use autoconf if not.  In the end, you'll write it, submit  
it, and others will let you know if it is (was) portable.  For  
example, we run a builder on darwin that just checks out the top of  
the tree and builds it, and loops.  If you break it, it will stop  
working and people will eventually track it down to you.


> 3) Do I need to follow any formal procedure to start
> on a contribution item?

No.  Though, letting people know you're going to start working on item  
X is at times nice.  Others might have pointers/tip/tricks/code to  
share.

> Also if I want to start with deleting garbage code
> where most of the module owners will be needed to be
> in closed loop how can I go about it?

We don't have any garbage code in gcc...  ;-)

Just submit the patches as normal.  If you want a more experienced  
person to review your plan, share the plan on the gcc list first.