grub-dev: Getting started
4.1 Getting started
===================
* Always use latest GRUB 2 source code. So get that first.
For developers it is recommended always to use the newest
development version of GRUB 2. If development takes a long period
of time, please remember to keep in sync with newest developments
regularly so it is much easier to integrate your change in the
future. GRUB 2 is being developed in a GIT repository.
Please check Savannah's GRUB project page for details how to get
newest git: GRUB 2 git Repository
(https://savannah.gnu.org/git/?group=grub)
* Compile it and try it out.
It is always good idea to first see that things work somehow and
after that to start to implement new features or develop fixes to
bugs.
* Study the code.
There are sometimes odd ways to do things in GRUB 2 code base.
This is mainly related to limited environment where GRUB 2 is being
executed. You usually do not need to understand it all so it is
better to only try to look at places that relates to your work.
Please do not hesitate to ask for help if there is something that
you do not understand.
* Develop a new feature.
Now that you know what to do and how it should work in GRUB 2 code
base, please be free to develop it. If you have not so far
announced your idea on grub-devel mailing list, please do it now.
This is to make sure you are not wasting your time working on the
solution that will not be integrated to GRUB 2 code base.
You might want to study our coding style before starting
development so you do not need to change much of the code when your
patch is being reviewed. (see ⇒Coding style)
For every accepted patch there has to exist a ChangeLog entry. Our
ChangeLog consist of changes within source code and are not
describing about what the change logically does. Please see
examples from previous entries.
Also remember that GRUB 2 is licensed under GPLv3 license and that
usually means that you are not allowed to copy pieces of code from
other projects. Even if the source project's license would be
compatible with GPLv3, please discuss it beforehand on grub-devel
mailing list.
* Test your change.
Test that your change works properly. Try it out a couple of
times, preferably on different systems, and try to find problems
with it.
* Publish your change.
When you are happy with your change, first make sure it is
compilable with latest development version of GRUB 2. After that
please send a patch to grub-devel for review. Please describe in
your email why you made the change, what it changes and so on.
Please be prepared to receive even discouraging comments about your
patch. There is usually at least something that needs to be
improved in every patch.
Please use unified diff to make your patch (good match of arguments
for diff is '-pruN').
* Respond to received feedback.
If you are asked to modify your patch, please do that and resubmit
it for review. If your change is large you are required to submit
a copyright agreement to FSF. Please keep in mind that if you are
asked to submit for copyright agreement, process can take some time
and is mandatory in order to get your changes integrated.
If you are not on grub-devel to respond to questions, most likely
your patch will not be accepted. Also if problems arise from your
changes later on, it would be preferable that you also fix the
problem. So stay around for a while.
* Your patch is accepted.
Good job! Your patch will now be integrated into GRUB 2 mainline,
and if it didn't break anything it will be publicly available in
the next release.
Now you are welcome to do further improvements :)
Info Catalog
grub-dev: Contributing Changes
grub-dev: Typical Developer Experience