start-os/CONTRIBUTING.md

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# Contributing to StartOS

First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! ❤️

All types of contributions are encouraged and valued. See the
[Table of Contents](#table-of-contents) for different ways to help and details
about how this project handles them. Please make sure to read the relevant
section before making your contribution. It will make it a lot easier for us
maintainers and smooth out the experience for all involved. The community looks
forward to your contributions. 🎉

> And if you like the project, but just don't have time to contribute, that's
> fine. There are other easy ways to support the project and show your
> appreciation, which we would also be very happy about:
>
> - Star the project
> - Tweet about it
> - Refer this project in your project's readme
> - Mention the project at local meetups and tell your friends/colleagues
> - Buy a [Start9 server](https://start9.com)

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## Table of Contents

- [I Have a Question](#i-have-a-question)
- [I Want To Contribute](#i-want-to-contribute)
  - [Reporting Bugs](#reporting-bugs)
  - [Suggesting Enhancements](#suggesting-enhancements)
  - [Project Structure](#project-structure)
  - [Your First Code Contribution](#your-first-code-contribution)
    - [Setting Up Your Development Environment](#setting-up-your-development-environment)
    - [Building The Image](#building-the-image)
  - [Improving The Documentation](#improving-the-documentation)
- [Styleguides](#styleguides)
  - [Formatting](#formatting)
  - [Atomic Commits](#atomic-commits)
  - [Commit Messages](#commit-messages)
  - [Pull Requests](#pull-requests)
  - [Rebasing Changes](#rebasing-changes)
- [Join The Discussion](#join-the-discussion)
- [Join The Project Team](#join-the-project-team)

## I Have a Question

> If you want to ask a question, we assume that you have read the available
> [Documentation](https://docs.start9labs.com).

Before you ask a question, it is best to search for existing
[Issues](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues) that might help you.
In case you have found a suitable issue and still need clarification, you can
write your question in this issue. It is also advisable to search the internet
for answers first.

If you then still feel the need to ask a question and need clarification, we
recommend the following:

- Open an [Issue](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues/new).
- Provide as much context as you can about what you're running into.
- Provide project and platform versions, depending on what seems relevant.

We will then take care of the issue as soon as possible.

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You might want to create a separate issue tag for questions and include it in this description. People should then tag their issues accordingly.

Depending on how large the project is, you may want to outsource the questioning, e.g. to Stack Overflow or Gitter. You may add additional contact and information possibilities:
- IRC
- Slack
- Gitter
- Stack Overflow tag
- Blog
- FAQ
- Roadmap
- E-Mail List
- Forum
-->

## I Want To Contribute

> ### Legal Notice <!-- omit in toc -->
>
> When contributing to this project, you must agree that you have authored 100%
> of the content, that you have the necessary rights to the content and that the
> content you contribute may be provided under the project license.

### Reporting Bugs

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#### Before Submitting a Bug Report

A good bug report shouldn't leave others needing to chase you up for more
information. Therefore, we ask you to investigate carefully, collect information
and describe the issue in detail in your report. Please complete the following
steps in advance to help us fix any potential bug as fast as possible.

- Make sure that you are using the latest version.
- Determine if your bug is really a bug and not an error on your side e.g. using
  incompatible environment components/versions (Make sure that you have read the
  [documentation](https://start9.com/latest/user-manual). If you are looking for
  support, you might want to check [this section](#i-have-a-question)).
- To see if other users have experienced (and potentially already solved) the
  same issue you are having, check if there is not already a bug report existing
  for your bug or error in the
  [bug tracker](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues?q=label%3Abug).
- Also make sure to search the internet (including Stack Overflow) to see if
  users outside of the GitHub community have discussed the issue.
- Collect information about the bug:
  - Stack trace (Traceback)
  - Client OS, Platform and Version (Windows/Linux/macOS/iOS/Android,
    Firefox/Tor Browser/Consulate)
  - Version of the interpreter, compiler, SDK, runtime environment, package
    manager, depending on what seems relevant.
  - Possibly your input and the output
  - Can you reliably reproduce the issue? And can you also reproduce it with
    older versions?

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#### How Do I Submit a Good Bug Report?

> You must never report security related issues, vulnerabilities or bugs to the
> issue tracker, or elsewhere in public. Instead sensitive bugs must be sent by
> email to <security@start9labs.com>.

<!-- You may add a PGP key to allow the messages to be sent encrypted as well. -->

We use GitHub issues to track bugs and errors. If you run into an issue with the
project:

- Open an [Issue](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues/new/choose)
  selecting the appropriate type.
- Explain the behavior you would expect and the actual behavior.
- Please provide as much context as possible and describe the _reproduction
  steps_ that someone else can follow to recreate the issue on their own. This
  usually includes your code. For good bug reports you should isolate the
  problem and create a reduced test case.
- Provide the information you collected in the previous section.

Once it's filed:

- The project team will label the issue accordingly.
- A team member will try to reproduce the issue with your provided steps. If
  there are no reproduction steps or no obvious way to reproduce the issue, the
  team will ask you for those steps and mark the issue as `Question`. Bugs with
  the `Question` tag will not be addressed until they are answered.
- If the team is able to reproduce the issue, it will be marked a scoping level
  tag, as well as possibly other tags (such as `Security`), and the issue will
  be left to be [implemented by someone](#your-first-code-contribution).

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### Suggesting Enhancements

This section guides you through submitting an enhancement suggestion for StartOS, **including completely new features and minor improvements to existing
functionality**. Following these guidelines will help maintainers and the
community to understand your suggestion and find related suggestions.

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#### Before Submitting an Enhancement

- Make sure that you are using the latest version.
- Read the [documentation](https://start9.com/latest/user-manual) carefully and
  find out if the functionality is already covered, maybe by an individual
  configuration.
- Perform a [search](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues) to see if
  the enhancement has already been suggested. If it has, add a comment to the
  existing issue instead of opening a new one.
- Find out whether your idea fits with the scope and aims of the project. It's
  up to you to make a strong case to convince the project's developers of the
  merits of this feature. Keep in mind that we want features that will be useful
  to the majority of our users and not just a small subset. If you're just
  targeting a minority of users, consider writing an add-on/plugin library.

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#### How Do I Submit a Good Enhancement Suggestion?

Enhancement suggestions are tracked as
[GitHub issues](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues).

- Use a **clear and descriptive title** for the issue to identify the
  suggestion.
- Provide a **step-by-step description of the suggested enhancement** in as many
  details as possible.
- **Describe the current behavior** and **explain which behavior you expected to
  see instead** and why. At this point you can also tell which alternatives do
  not work for you.
- You may want to **include screenshots and animated GIFs** which help you
  demonstrate the steps or point out the part which the suggestion is related
  to. You can use [this tool](https://www.cockos.com/licecap/) to record GIFs on
  macOS and Windows, and [this tool](https://github.com/colinkeenan/silentcast)
  or [this tool](https://github.com/GNOME/byzanz) on Linux.
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- **Explain why this enhancement would be useful** to most StartOS users. You
  may also want to point out the other projects that solved it better and which
  could serve as inspiration.

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### Project Structure

StartOS is composed of the following components. Please visit the README for
each component to understand the dependency requirements and installation
instructions.

- [`backend`](backend/README.md) (Rust) is a command line utility, daemon, and
  software development kit that sets up and manages services and their
  environments, provides the interface for the ui, manages system state, and
  provides utilities for packaging services for StartOS.
- [`build`](build/README.md) contains scripts and necessary for deploying
  StartOS to a debian/raspbian system.
- [`frontend`](frontend/README.md) (Typescript Ionic Angular) is the code that
  is deployed to the browser to provide the user interface for StartOS.
  - `projects/ui` - Code for the user interface that is displayed when StartOS
    is running normally.
  - `projects/setup-wizard`(frontend/README.md) - Code for the user interface
    that is displayed during the setup and recovery process for StartOS.
- `libs` (Rust) is a set of standalone crates that were separated out of
  `backend` for the purpose of portability
- `patch-db` - A diff based data store that is used to synchronize data between
  the front and backend.
  - Notably, `patch-db` has a
    [client](https://github.com/Start9Labs/patch-db/tree/master/client) with its
    own dependency and installation requirements.
- `system-images` - (Docker, Rust) A suite of utility Docker images that are
  preloaded with StartOS to assist with functions relating to services (eg.
  configuration, backups, health checks).

### Your First Code Contribution

#### Setting Up Your Development Environment

First, clone the StartOS repository and from the project root, pull in the
submodules for dependent libraries.

```sh
git clone https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os.git
git submodule update --init --recursive
```

Depending on which component of the ecosystem you are interested in contributing
to, follow the installation requirements listed in that component's README
(linked [above](#project-structure))

#### Building The Raspberry Pi Image

This step is for setting up an environment in which to test your code changes if
you do not yet have a StartOS.

- Requirements
  - `ext4fs` (available if running on the Linux kernel)
  - [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/)
  - GNU Make
- Building
  - see setup instructions [here](build/README.md)
  - run `make startos-raspi.img ARCH=aarch64` from the project root

### Improving The Documentation

You can find the repository for Start9's documentation
[here](https://github.com/Start9Labs/documentation). If there is something you
would like to see added, let us know, or create an issue yourself. Welcome are
contributions for lacking or incorrect information, broken links, requested
additions, or general style improvements.

Contributions in the form of setup guides for integrations with external
applications are highly encouraged. If you struggled through a process and would
like to share your steps with others, check out the docs for each
[service](https://github.com/Start9Labs/documentation/blob/master/source/user-manuals/available-services/index.rst)
we support. The wrapper repos contain sections for adding integration guides,
such as this
[one](https://github.com/Start9Labs/bitcoind-wrapper/tree/master/docs). These
not only help out others in the community, but inform how we can create a more
seamless and intuitive experience.

## Styleguides

### Formatting

Each component of StartOS contains its own style guide. Code must be formatted
with the formatter designated for each component. These are outlined within each
component folder's README.

### Atomic Commits

Commits
[should be atomic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_commit#Atomic_commit_convention)
and diffs should be easy to read. Do not mix any formatting fixes or code moves
with actual code changes.

### Commit Messages

If a commit touches only 1 component, prefix the message with the affected
component. i.e. `backend: update to tokio v0.3`.

### Pull Requests

The body of a pull request should contain sufficient description of what the
changes do, as well as a justification. You should include references to any
relevant [issues](https://github.com/Start9Labs/start-os/issues).

### Rebasing Changes

When a pull request conflicts with the target branch, you may be asked to rebase
it on top of the current target branch. The `git rebase` command will take care
of rebuilding your commits on top of the new base.

This project aims to have a clean git history, where code changes are only made
in non-merge commits. This simplifies auditability because merge commits can be
assumed to not contain arbitrary code changes.

## Join The Discussion

Current or aspiring contributors? Join our community developer
[Matrix channel](https://matrix.to/#/#community-dev:matrix.start9labs.com).

Just interested in or using the project? Join our community
[Telegram](https://t.me/start9_labs) or
[Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/#community:matrix.start9labs.com).

## Join The Project Team

Interested in becoming a part of the Start9 Labs team? Send an email to
<jobs@start9labs.com>

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## Attribution

This guide is based on the **contributing-gen**.
[Make your own](https://github.com/bttger/contributing-gen)!