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192 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
192 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
# Contributing to urbit
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Thank you for your interest in contributing to urbit.
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## Fake `~zod`s
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You may have an identity on the live network, but doing all your
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development on the live network would be cumbersome and unnecessary.
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Standard practice in urbit development is to work on a fake `~zod`. A
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fake `~zod` will get its initial files from a directory you specify
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rather than trying to sync them over the network, which is invaluable
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for working in Hoon. Also, a fake `~zod` or any fake urbit instances you
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start do not talk to the live network, but to a fake network that exists
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only on your computer.
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First, you'll want to check out the Arvo repository. Arvo is kept in its
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own repository, and changes more rapidly than the main C project does.
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git clone https://github.com/urbit/arvo
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The arvo repository can live safely inside the main urbit repository if
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you want, since it's listed in .gitignore. However, vere will use the
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path you specify on the command line with the `-A` option.
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To start a fake `~zod`, the command is:
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$ urbit -c -F zod -A [arvo checkout] [pier directory]
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To resume one that was already created, just as on the live network,
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remove `-c` and `-A [arvo checkout]` (but leave the rest of the options
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there). `-F` uses the fake network.
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## Kernel development
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Working on either C or non-kernel Hoon should not bring any surprises,
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but the Hoon kernel (anything under `arvo/arvo/`) is bootstrapped
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from `urbit.pill`, and must be recompiled if any changes are made. This
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should happen automatically when you make changes, but if it doesn't,
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the command to manually recompile the kernel and install the new kernel
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is `|reset` in `dojo`. This rebuilds from the `arvo` directory in the
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`home` desk in `%clay`. Currently, `|reset` does not reload apps like
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`dojo` itself, which will still reference the old kernel. To force them
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to reload, make a trivial edit to their main source file (under the
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`app` directory) in `%clay`.
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If you do any kernel development, be sure to read the section below about
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pills.
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## Git practice
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Since we use the GitHub issue tracker, it is helpful (though not
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required) to contribute via a GitHub pull request. If you already know
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what you are doing, skip down to the Style section.
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Start by cloning the repository on your work machine:
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git clone https://github.com/urbit/urbit
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And, additionally, fork the repository on GitHub by clicking the "Fork"
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button. Add your fork as a remote:
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git remote add [username] https://github.com/[username]/urbit
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and set it as the default remote to push to:
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git config --local remote.pushDefault [username]
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This is good practice for any project that uses git. You will pull
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upstream branches from urbit/urbit and push to your personal urbit fork
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by default.
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Next, start a new branch to do your work on. For `urbit`, please use the
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latest tagged release as your starting point. For other repositories,
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anywhere pointed to by `master` is alright to start from.
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git checkout -b [branch name] [starting point]
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Now you are free to do your work on this branch. When finished, you may
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want to clean up your commits:
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git rebase -i [starting point]
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Then you can push to your public fork with `git push` and make a pull
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request via the GitHub UI.
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After your changes are merged upstream, you can delete your branch (via
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github UI or `git push :[branch]` remotely, and with `git branch -d`
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locally).
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## Style
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The urbit project uses two-space indentation and avoids tab characters.
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In C code, it should not be too difficult to mimic the style of the code
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around you, which is just fairly standard K&R with braces on every
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compound statement. One thing to watch out for is top-level sections in
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source files that are denoted by comments and are actually indented one
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level.
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Hoon will be a less familiar language to many contributors. Some of our
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less obvious stylistic rules are:
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- Keep your source files 80 characters or less wide. Many urbit
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developers use 80 character terminals/tmux panes/&c.
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- Tab characters are actually a syntax error, so be extra sure your
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editor is not inserting any. Trailing whitespace is *usually* not a
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syntax error, but avoiding it is encouraged.
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- The kernel convention is that line comments start at column 57 with
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the `::` followed by 2 spaces. This leaves 20 characters for the
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comment. Outside the kernel, things are less strict.
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- Tall arms within a core are conventionally separated by empty comments
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(just `::`) at the same indentation level as the initial `++` or `+-`.
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The last arm in a core is not followed by an empty comment, because it
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is visually closed by the `--` that closes the core. The empty comment
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is also sometimes omitted in data structure definitions.
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## The kernel and pills
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urbit bootstraps itself using a binary blob called `urbit.pill`. You
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probably remember it being fetched from `bootstrap.urbit.org` before
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your first boot. This is just the compiled version of the kernel, which
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you can find in the `arvo/arvo/` directory - `hoon.hoon`, `zuse.hoon`,
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and so on.
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The procedure for creating `urbit.pill` is often called "soliding". It
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is somewhat similar to `|reset`, but instead of replacing your running
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kernel, it writes the compiled kernel to a file. The command to solid
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is, on a fakezod:
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.urbit/pill +solid
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When the compilation finishes, your `urbit.pill` will be found in the
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`[pier]/.urb/put/` directory.
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Ordinarily, `http://bootstrap.urbit.org/latest.pill` will be updated
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to match whatever's on `master` in the `arvo` repository with every
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merge to `master`. Older pills will be stored with the `git` SHA1 of the
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relevant commit as `[sha1].pill`.
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If you're doing heavy kernel hacking and want to submit intermediate
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pills for your branch, please include them with your pull request, and
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they'll be uploaded to `bootstrap.urbit.org` when your branch is merged.
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## Debug urbit with `gdb`
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Follow the build instructions in README.md but run `make` with argument `DEBUG=yes`:
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(If you've already built urbit first run `make clean`.)
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make DEBUG=yes
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Run `gdb`, while loading `bin/urbit` and its symbol table:
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gdb bin/urbit
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Set a breakpoint on `main()` (optional):
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break main
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Run your urbit comet `mycomet`:
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run mycomet
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Continue from the breakpoint on `main()`:
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continue
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## What to work on
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If you are not thinking of contributing with a specific goal in mind,
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the GitHub issue tracker is the first place you should look for ideas.
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Issues are tagged with a priority and a difficulty. A good place to
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start is on either a low-difficulty issue or a low-priority issue.
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Higher priority issues are likely to be assigned to someone - if this is
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the case, then contacting that person to coordinate before starting to
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work is probably a good idea.
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There is also a "help wanted" tag for things that we are especially
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eager to have outside contributions on. Check here first!
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## Staying in touch
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The urbit developers communicate on urbit itself. Joining the
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`urbit-meta` channel on `talk` is highly recommended, as is reading the
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forums at [http://urbit.org/fora](http://urbit.org/fora). Subscribing to
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`urbit-dev` on Google Groups is also recommended, since this is where
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continuity breach notifications are sent.
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Pull requests in non-GitHub forms can go to Raymond Pasco
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([ray@the.ug](mailto:ray@the.ug)). Questions or other communications
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about contributing to Urbit can go to Raymond Pasco or Philip Monk
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([philip.monk@tlon.io](mailto:philip.monk@tlon.io)).
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