[Playerstage-developers] CVS Access policy

[ahoward <ah...@po...>]

Hi folks:

As Toby and Pranav have observed, there are currently some problems with
committing files to the P/S/G CVS respository; the situation is as
follows.

We recently set up access control on the CVS repository using the standard
SourceForge mechanism:

  http://sourceforge.net/docman/display_doc.php?docid=772&group_id=1

This mechanism limits write access to the repository on a
per-developer-and-per-directory basis; if you dont have write permission
on a directory, you will get an "insufficient Karma" message when you try
to commit.  At this point, we havent yet figured out what the access
policy should be, but we are concerned about having 21 developers, all of
whom have write access to everything (Player, Stage, Gazebo, RTK2, RTK3,
Mezzanine, a bunch of papers and the website).  The scope for accidents is
great, and most developers really dont need to edit the website or
re-write Brian's papers.  Hence the access limits.

I herewith propose the following policy:

1) Since most developers work on only a sub-set of the above projects,
they are granted access to those specific projects only.  Thus, someone
writing a new device driver for Player would have access to Player, but
not Stage or Gazebo.

2) Additions/changes in project access are made on an as-needed basis.
If a new Gazebo model requires a new Player driver, the developer will be
added to the list for Player.

3) All other access issues follow the policy of the individual project
(Player, Stage, Gazebo, etc.).  Proposed policies for Gazebo and Player
are below.

Please note that these changes are not designed to gratuitously annoy
people, nor are they intended to introduce obstacles to further
development.

Comments, suggestions and policy proposals are invited.

	A.




Gazebo
------

For Gazebo, here is my suggested policy:

1) All Gazebo developers will have unrestricted access to the following
directories:

    $(gazebo)/server/models
    $(gazebo)/server/sensors
    $(gazebo)/worlds
    $(gazebo)/manual
    $(gazebo)/toolkit
    $(gazebo)/replace

This allows anyone to add/modify models, add new worlds and so on.

2) Only the "release team" (currently Nate and Andrew) will have access to
the following directories:

    $(gazebo)
    $(gazebo)/server
    $(gazebo)/libgazebo

As a result, to make a new model "official" (i.e., included in the
standard release), you will need to send a patch to someone on the release
team (we will try to act on these in a timely manner).


Player
------

For Player, here is Brian's suggested policy:

1) All Player developers will have unrestricted access to the following
directories:

    $(player)/config
    $(player)/server/drivers
    $(player)/examples
    $(player)/player-manual

This allows anyone to add/modify drivers, add new configuration files,
write new example clients, and so on.

2) Access to the following directories will be given on an as-needed basis
   (i.e., ask and you may receive):

    $(player)/client_libs/c++
    $(player)/client_libs/libplayerc
    $(player)/client_libs/pyplayerc
    $(player)/utils

We welcome additions to client libs and utilities.  However, since these
libs and tools are the client-visible interface on which people's code
may depend, we don't want people changing them arbitrarily and without
any oversight.

3) Only the "release team" (currently Andrew, Richard, and Brian)
   will have access to the following directories:

    $(player)
    $(player)/m4.d
    $(player)/server
    $(player)/server/codetools
    $(player)/rtk3
    $(player)/replace
    $(player)/client_libs/c

As a result, to make a new driver and/or interface "official" (i.e.,
included in the standard release), you will need to send a patch to
someone on the release team.  Similarly, changes to the basic C client
will have to pass through us (it's the reference client, and shouldn't
really change anyway).

This is not meant to be a barrier to development; we'll very likely
accept your patch, and try to do so in a timely manner.



Andrew Howard                           email: ah...@po...
Department of Computer Science          http:  www-robotics.usc.edu/~ahoward
University of Southern California       phone: 1 (213) 740 6416
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A. 90089-0781      fax:   1 (213) 821 5696
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