How to contribute

The tool used to submit changes to the Plan 9 distribution is called patch(1) (not to be confused with the unix tool of the same name.)

Patches are processed by the maintainers at Bell Labs (typically geoff or jmk). When sending a patch, follow these guidelines:

• If this is a bug fix, explain the bug clearly. Don't assume the bug is obvious from the fix.
• If this is a new feature, explain it clearly. Don't assume it is obvious from the change.
• Make the new code look as much like the old code as possible: don't make gratuitous changes and follow the style of the old code. See CODING STYLE below.
• If necessary, update the manual page.

If you use patch/email to attach an email address to the patch, that address will be mailed when the patch is either applied or rejected. If the latter, the email will contain a note explaining why and probably listing suggested changes and encouraging you to resubmit.

An archive of all submitted patches is in /n/sources/patch.

srv -q tcp!sources.cs.bell-labs.com sources /n/sources

See also Contrib and Contrib index

Submit it via patch(1).

The patch may well come back in the "sorry" category rather than the "applied" category, with suggestions on what should be changed to make it better and a request to resubmit it. This doesn't mean you should give up. It means you did a good job and the maintainers think it's worth trying to get you to make the job even better. Remember: you can't polish a turd.

If the patch does get applied but you notice that the code has been edited and is not exactly what you submitted, the same comment still applies. Look at the diffs and understand why the changes were made. Remember: you can't polish a turd.

Plan 9 C code has its own conventions, documented in style(6). You would do well to follow them. Here are a few:

• don't use // comments; some old Plan 9 code does, but we're converting it as we touch it. We do sometimes use // to comment-out a few lines of code.
• avoid gotos.
• no tabs expanded to spaces.
• no white space before opening braces.
• no white space after the word "if", "for", "while", etc.
• no braces around single-line blocks (e.g., if, for, and while bodies).
• integer-valued functions return -1 on error, 0 or positive on success.
• functions that return errors should set errstr(2).
• variable and function names are all lowercase, with no underscores.
• enum or #defined constants should be Uppercase or UPPERCASE.
• struct tags are Uppercase, with matching typedefs.
• automatic variables (local variables inside a function) are never initialized at declaration.
• follow the standard idioms: use x<0 not 0>x, etc.

Ultimately, the goal is to write code that fits in with the other code around it and the system as a whole. If the file you are editing already deviates from these guidelines, do what it does. After you edit a file, a reader should not be able to tell just from coding style which parts you worked on.

• "Notes on Programming in C" by Rob Pike, pdf)
• Notes on Programming Projects - by Russ Cox
• Program Design in the UNIX Environment by Rob Pike and Brian Kernighan (AKA "cat -v considered harmful")
• How to Use the Plan 9 C Compiler - Introduction to the Plan 9 developement environment, not only the compilers, but the libraries, build (mk(1)) and debugging (acid(1)) tools.
• The Practice of Programming by Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike. ISBN 0-201-61586-X.