busybox

Contributing To Busybox

=======================

​

This document describes what you need to do to contribute to Busybox, where

you can help, guidelines on testing, and how to submit a well-formed patch

that is more likely to be accepted.

​

The Busybox home page is at: http://busybox.net/

​

​

​

Pre-Contribution Checklist

--------------------------

​

So you want to contribute to Busybox, eh? Great, wonderful, glad you want to

help. However, before you dive in, headlong and hotfoot, there are some things

you need to do:

​

​

Checkout the Latest Code

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

​

This is a necessary first step. Please do not try to work with the last

released version, as there is a good chance that somebody has already fixed

the bug you found. Somebody might have even added the feature you had in mind.

Don't make your work obsolete before you start!

​

For information on how to check out Busybox development tree, please look at the

following links:

​

    http://busybox.net/source.html

​

​

Read the Mailing List

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

​

No one is required to read the entire archives of the mailing list, but you

should at least read up on what people have been talking about lately. If

you've recently discovered a problem, chances are somebody else has too. If

you're the first to discover a problem, post a message and let the rest of us

know.

​

Archives can be found here:

​

    http://busybox.net/lists/busybox/

​

If you have a serious interest in Busybox, i.e., you are using it day-to-day or

as part of an embedded project, it would be a good idea to join the mailing

list.

​

A web-based sign-up form can be found here:

​

    http://busybox.net/mailman/listinfo/busybox

​

​

Coordinate with the Applet Maintainer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

​

Some (not all) of the applets in Busybox are "owned" by a maintainer who has

put significant effort into it and is probably more familiar with it than

others. To find the maintainer of an applet, look at the top of the .c file

for a name following the word 'Copyright' or 'Written by' or 'Maintainer'.

​

Before plunging ahead, it's a good idea to send a message to the mailing list

that says: "Hey, I was thinking about adding the 'transmogrify' feature to the

'foo' applet.  Would this be useful? Is anyone else working on it?" You might

want to CC the maintainer (if any) with your question.

​

​

​

Areas Where You Can Help

------------------------

​

Busybox can always use improvement! If you're looking for ways to help, there

are a variety of areas where you could help.

​

​

What Busybox Doesn't Need

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

​

Before listing the areas where you _can_ help, it's worthwhile to mention the

areas where you shouldn't bother. While Busybox strives to be the "Swiss Army

Knife" of embedded Linux, there are some applets that will not be accepted:

​

 - Any filesystem manipulation tools: Busybox is filesystem independent and

   we do not want to start adding mkfs/fsck tools for every (or any)

   filesystem under the sun. (fsck_minix.c and mkfs_minix.c are living on

   borrowed time.) There are far too many of these tools out there.  Use

   the upstream version.  Rationale: bugs in these tools can destroy

   vast amounts of data.  Keeping up with filesystem format development

   is impractical (especially in the area of keeping fsck tool safe

   and up-to-date).