The XFree86 Development Model

Although public releases of XFree86 are available to anyone, and may be redistributed freely, the pre-release XFree86 development code is available only to members of The XFree86 Project. Some of the reasons for this approach are:

We've been using this model throughout the life of the XFree86 Project, and have found that it serves us well.

Copyrights and Licensing

All code included in the core XFree86 distribution is covered by conditions that are no more restrictive than the traditional BSD-style copyright/license. In particular the following conditions must be met:

Note that conditions of the GPL and LGPL are considered too restrictive, and no code covered by either of those licenses will be included in the core XFree86 distribution.

Contributors of code to XFree86 are free to retain ownership of their code. Although contributors may choose to assign copyright ownership of such code to The XFree86 Project, there is no requirement or expectation that this be done. A consequence of this is that XFree86 developers are free to release any code that they contribute independently of public XFree86 releases.

The list of copyrights in the current XFree86 release provides an example of acceptable copyright/licensing types.

How to Become an XFree86 Developer

Although it is possible to contribute to the development of XFree86 without joining the XFree86 development team, we recommend that those wishing to contribute in any substantial way do join. The advantages of doing so include access to the current development code, and access to other XFree86 developers via our internal mailing lists.

To become an XFree86 developer you first need to join The XFree86 Project as a non-voting member. Access to the XFree86 development code is only available to project members, and being a member provides the necessary legal status to allow developers to access information available to the project from other sources.

To join The XFree86 Project as a non-voting member, send email to signup@xfree86.org (note the new address) requesting a membership application form, and briefly state the reason why you wish to become a member. It is very rare that we knock back membership requests, but we are looking for members who will be active in developing and/or testing rather than people simply looking for early access to new code.

Additionally, we are mostly looking for people who have an idea what they are planning to work on. Our experience shows that XFree86 has a really steep learning curve and that many people who join the team without a clear cut goal of what they want to work on quickly get frustrated.

So please include in your email some detail as to what you are planning to work on and maybe some remarks on whether you have looked at the latest public release of the sources and feel comfortable to work on a project of this size.

Once membership is accepted, members are added to our internal developer and member mailing lists, and given the option of subscribing to other, more specialised, internal lists. Subscription to the members mailing list is mandatory for project members, because this is the way we communicate to members. Subscription to other lists is optional, but subscription to the main developer list is highly recommended.

If all of this seems to much, and your contribution is relatively self contained, and not likely to need longer term maintenance, you can always just send it to us at fixes@xfree86.org (note the new address).

Please note: We currently have a large backlog of membership requests. We're sorry about this, and we're working to clear the backlog. Please be patient. Your request has not been ignored.


webmaster@XFree86.org

XFree86 (TM) is pending trademark registration by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
Copyright (C) 1998, The XFree86 Project, Inc., All rights reserved.

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