en/glep/glep-0001.txt

GLEP: 1
Title: GLEP Purpose and Guidelines
Version: $Revision: 1.11 $
Last-Modified: $Date: 2008/01/20 02:56:39 $
Author: Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>
Status: Active
Type: Informational
Content-Type: text/x-rst
Created: 31-May-2003
Post-History: 1-Jun-2003, 2-Jul-2003, 19-Jan-2008, 05-Jun-2008

Credits
=======

The GLEP concept, and, in fact, much of the text of this document,
is liberally stolen from Python's [#Python]_ PEPs
[#PEPS]_, especially
PEP-0001 [#PEP1]_ by Barry A. Warsaw, Jeremy Hylton, and David Goodger.

What is a GLEP?
===============

GLEP stands for "Gentoo Linux Enhancement Proposal".  A GLEP is a design
document providing information to the Gentoo Linux community, or describing
a new feature for Gentoo Linux.  The GLEP should provide a concise technical
specification of the feature and rationale for the feature.

We intend GLEPs to be the primary mechanisms for proposing *significant* new
features, for collecting community input on an issue, and for
documenting the design decisions that have gone into Gentoo Linux.  The GLEP
author is responsible for building consensus within the community and
documenting dissenting opinions.

Because the GLEPs are maintained as text files under CVS control, their
revision history is the historical record of the feature proposal
[#CVS]_.


Kinds of GLEPs
==============

There are two kinds of GLEPs.  A Standards Track GLEP describes a new feature
or implementation for Gentoo Linux.  An Informational GLEP describes provides
general guidelines or information to the Gentoo Linux community, but does not
propose a new feature.  Informational GLEPs do not necessarily represent a
Gentoo Linux community consensus or recommendation, so users and implementors
are free to ignore Informational GLEPs or follow their advice.


GLEP Work Flow
==============

The GLEP editors assign GLEP numbers and change their status.  The current
GLEP editors are Grant Goodyear and Alastair Tse.  Please send all
GLEP-related email to <glep@gentoo.org>.

The GLEP process begins with a new idea for Gentoo Linux.  It is highly
recommended that a single GLEP contain a single key proposal or new idea.  The
more focussed the GLEP, the more successful it tends to be.  The GLEP editors
reserve the right to reject GLEP proposals if they appear too unfocussed or
too broad.  If in doubt, split your GLEP into several well-focussed ones.

Each GLEP must have a champion -- someone who writes the GLEP using the style
and format described below, shepherds the discussions in the appropriate
forums, and attempts to build community consensus around the idea.  The GLEP
champion (a.k.a. Author) should first attempt to ascertain whether the idea is
GLEP-able.  Small enhancements or patches often don't need a GLEP and can be
injected into the Gentoo Linux development work flow with an enhancement "bug"
submitted to the Gentoo Linux bugzilla [#BUGS]_.

The GLEP champion then emails the GLEP editors <glep@gentoo.org> with a
proposed title and a rough, but fleshed out, draft of the GLEP.  This draft
must be written in GLEP style as described below.

If the GLEP editor accepts the GLEP, he will assign the GLEP a number, label
it as Standards Track (a better name would be nice here -- suggestions?) or
Informational, give it status "Draft", and create and check-in the initial
draft of the GLEP.  The GLEP editors will not unreasonably deny a GLEP.
Reasons for denying GLEP status include duplication of effort, being
technically unsound, not providing proper motivation or addressing backwards
compatibility, or not in keeping with Gentoo Linux philosophy.  

If a pre-GLEP is rejected, the author may elect to take the pre-GLEP to the
gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list to help flesh it out, gain feedback and
consensus from the community at large, and improve the GLEP for re-submission.

The author of the GLEP is then responsible for posting the GLEP to the
gentoo-dev mailing list and to the Gentoo Linux forums [#FORUMS]_, and
marshaling community support for it.  As updates are necessary, the GLEP
author can check in new versions if they have CVS commit permissions, or can
email new GLEP versions to the GLEP editors for committing.

Standards Track GLEPs consist of two parts, a design document and a reference
implementation.  The GLEP should be reviewed and accepted before a reference
implementation is begun, unless a reference implementation will aid people in
studying the GLEP.  Standards Track GLEPs must include an implementation -- in
the form of code, patch, or URL to same -- before it can be considered Final.

GLEP authors are responsible for collecting community feedback on a GLEP
before submitting it for review.  A GLEP that has not been discussed on
gentoo-dev@gentoo.org and/or the Gentoo Linux forums [#FORUMS]_ will not be
accepted.  However, wherever possible, long open-ended discussions on public
mailing lists should be avoided.  Strategies to keep the discussions efficient
include setting up a specific forums thread for the topic, having the GLEP
author accept private comments in the early design phases, etc.  GLEP authors
should use their discretion here.

Once the authors have completed a GLEP, they must inform the GLEP editors that
it is ready for review.  GLEPs are reviewed by the appropriate Gentoo
Manager [#MANAGER]_, who may approve or reject a GLEP outright, or
send it back to the author(s) for revision.  For a GLEP that is pre-determined
to be approvable (e.g., it is an obvious win as-is and/or its implementation
has already been checked in) the appropriate Gentoo Manager [#MANAGER]_
may also initiate a GLEP review, first notifying the GLEP author(s) and giving
them a chance to make revisions.

For a GLEP to be approved it must meet certain minimum criteria.  It must be a
clear and complete description of the proposed enhancement.  The enhancement
must represent a net improvement.  The proposed implementation, if applicable,
must be solid and must not complicate the distribution unduly.  Finally, a
proposed enhancement must satisfy the philosophy of Gentoo Linux.

Once a GLEP has been accepted, the reference implementation must be completed.
When the reference implementation is complete and accepted, the status will be
changed to "Final".

A GLEP can also be assigned status "Deferred".  The GLEP author or editor can
assign the GLEP this status when no progress is being made on the GLEP.  Once
a GLEP is deferred, the GLEP editor can re-assign it to draft status.

A GLEP can also be "Rejected".  Perhaps after all is said and done it was not
a good idea.  It is still important to have a record of this fact.

GLEPs can also be replaced by a different GLEP, rendering the original
obsolete (where version 2 of a policy, for example, might replace version 1).

GLEP work flow is as follows::

    Draft -> Accepted -> Final -> Replaced
      ^
      +----> Rejected
      v
    Deferred

Some Informational GLEPs may also have a status of "Active" if they are never
meant to be completed.  E.g. GLEP 1 (this GLEP).


What belongs in a successful GLEP?
==================================

Each GLEP should have the following parts:

1. Preamble -- RFC 822 style headers containing meta-data about the
   GLEP, including the GLEP number, a short descriptive title (limited
   to a maximum of 44 characters), the names, and optionally the
   contact info for each author, etc.

2. Abstract -- a short (~200 word) description of the technical issue
   being addressed.

3. Motivation -- The motivation is critical for GLEPs that want to
   modify Gentoo Linux functionality.  It should clearly explain why the
   existing functionality or policy is inadequate to address the problem that
   the GLEP solves.  GLEP submissions without sufficient motivation may be
   rejected outright.

4. Specification -- The technical specification should describe the
   specific areas of Gentoo Linux that would be touched by this GLEP.  If new
   functionality is being introduced, what packages will that functionality
   affect?  If new policy, who will be affected?

5. Rationale -- The rationale fleshes out the specification by
   describing what motivated the design and why particular design decisions
   were made.  It should describe alternate designs that were considered and
   related work, e.g. how the feature is supported in other distributions.

   The rationale should provide evidence of consensus within the community and
   discuss important objections or concerns raised during discussion.

6. Backwards Compatibility -- All GLEPs 
   must include a section describing any issues of backwards incompatibilities
   and their severity.  The GLEP must explain how the author proposes to deal
   with these incompatibilities.  (Even if there are none, this section should
   be included to clearly state that fact.) GLEP submissions without a
   sufficient backwards compatibility treatise may be rejected outright.

7. Reference Implementation -- The reference implementation must be
   completed before any GLEP is given status "Final", but it need not be
   completed before the GLEP is accepted.  It is better to finish the
   specification and rationale first and reach consensus on it before writing
   code or significantly modifying ebuilds.

8. Copyright/public domain -- Each GLEP must either be explicitly
   labelled as placed in the public domain (see this GLEP as an example) or
   licensed under the Open Publication License [#OPL].


GLEP Formating and Template
===========================

GLEPs are written either in Gentoo Linux Guide-XML [#GUIDEXML]_ or in
a just-barely-marked-up version of plain ASCII text
called ReStructuredText [#ReSTHOME]_ that is then converted to HTML using
Docutils [#DOCUTILS]_.  Using ReStructuredText GLEPs allows for rich markup
that is still quite easy to read, but results in much better-looking and more
functional HTML.  Moreover, it should be straightforward to convert GLEPs to
Gentoo Linux guide xml [#GUIDEXML]_ if needed.  GLEP 2 contains a boilerplate
template [#ReST]_ for use with ReStructuredText GLEPs.


GLEP Header Preamble
====================

Each GLEP must begin with an RFC 2822 style header preamble.  The headers
must appear in the following order.  Headers marked with "*" are
optional and are described below.  All other headers are required. ::

    GLEP: <glep number>
    Title: <glep title>
    Version: <cvs version string>
    Last-Modified: <cvs date string>
    Author: <list of authors' real names and optionally, email addrs>
  * Discussions-To: <email address>
    Status: <Draft | Active | Accepted | Deferred | Rejected |
             Final | Replaced>
    Type: <Informational | Standards Track>
  * Content-Type: <text/plain | text/x-rst>
  * Requires: <glep numbers>
    Created: <date created on, in dd-mmm-yyyy format>
    Post-History: <dates of postings to gentoo-dev>
  * Replaces: <glep number>
  * Replaced-By: <glep number>

The Author header lists the names, and optionally the email addresses
of all the authors/owners of the GLEP.  The format of the Author header
value must be

    Random J. User <address@dom.ain>

if the email address is included, and just

    Random J. User

if the address is not given.  

If there are multiple authors, each should be on a separate line
following RFC 2822 continuation line conventions.  Note that personal
email addresses in GLEPs will be obscured as a defense against spam
harvesters.

While a GLEP is in private discussions (usually during the initial Draft
phase), a Discussions-To header will indicate the mailing list or URL where
the GLEP is being discussed.  No Discussions-To header is necessary if the
GLEP is being discussed privately with the author, or on the gentoo-dev
mailing list.  Note that email addresses in the Discussions-To header will not
be obscured.

The Type header specifies the type of GLEP: Informational or Standards
Track.

The format of a GLEP is specified with a Content-Type header, which 
should read "text/xml" for Gentoo Guide XML or 
"text/x-rst" for ReStructuredText GLEPs (see GLEP 2
[#ReST]_).

The Created header records the date that the GLEP was assigned a number, while
Post-History is used to record the dates of when new versions of the GLEP are
posted to gentoo-dev.  Both headers should be in dd-mmm-yyyy format, e.g.
14-Aug-2001.

GLEPs may have a Requires header, indicating the GLEP numbers that this GLEP
depends on.

GLEPs may also have a Replaced-By header indicating that a GLEP has been
rendered obsolete by a later document; the value is the number of the GLEP
that replaces the current document.  The newer GLEP must have a Replaces
header containing the number of the GLEP that it rendered obsolete.


Reporting GLEP Bugs, or Submitting GLEP Updates
===============================================

How you report a bug, or submit a GLEP update depends on several factors, such
as the maturity of the GLEP, the preferences of the GLEP author, and the
nature of your comments.  For the early draft stages of the GLEP, it's
probably best to send your comments and changes directly to the GLEP author.
For more mature, or finished GLEPs you may want to submit corrections to the
Gentoo Linux bugzilla [#BUGS]_ so that your changes don't get lost.  If the GLEP
author is a Gentoo Linux developer, assign the bug/patch to him, otherwise
assign it to the GLEP editors.

When in doubt about where to send your changes, please check first with the
GLEP author and/or GLEP editors.

GLEP authors who are also Gentoo Linux developers can update the GLEPs
themselves by using "cvs commit" to commit their changes.  

Transferring GLEP Ownership
===========================

It occasionally becomes necessary to transfer ownership of GLEPs to a new
champion.  In general, we'd like to retain the original author as a co-author
of the transferred GLEP, but that's really up to the original author.  A good
reason to transfer ownership is because the original author no longer has the
time or interest in updating it or following through with the GLEP process, or
has fallen off the face of the 'net (i.e. is unreachable or not responding to
email).  A bad reason to transfer ownership is because you don't agree with
the direction of the GLEP.  We try to build consensus around a GLEP, but if
that's not possible, you can always submit a competing GLEP.

If you are interested in assuming ownership of a GLEP, send a message asking
to take over, addressed to both the original author and the GLEP editors
<glep@gentoo.org>.  If the original author doesn't respond to email in a
timely manner, the GLEP editors will make a unilateral decision (it's not like
such decisions can't be reversed :).


References and Footnotes
========================

.. [#PYTHON] http://www.python.org

.. [#PEPS] http://www.python.org/peps

.. [#PEP1] http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0001.html

.. [#CVS] This historical record is available by the normal CVS commands
   for retrieving older revisions.  For those without direct access to the CVS
   tree, you can browse the current and past GLEP revisions via the Gentoo
   Linux viewcvs web site at
   http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/

.. [#ReST] GLEP 2, Sample ReStructuredText GLEP Template, 
   (http://glep.gentoo.org/glep-0002.html)

.. [#BUGS] http://bugs.gentoo.org

.. [#FORUMS] http://forums.gentoo.org

.. [#MANAGER] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/management-structure.xml

.. [#OPL] http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/

.. [#ReSTHOME] http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html

.. [#GUIDEXML] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xml-guide.xml

.. [#DOCUTILS] http://docutils.sourceforge.net/


Copyright
=========

This document has been placed in the public domain.
1	peper	1.10	GLEP: 1
2			Title: GLEP Purpose and Guidelines
3	dev-zero	1.12	Version: $Revision: 1.11 $
4			Last-Modified: $Date: 2008/01/20 02:56:39 $
5	peper	1.10	Author: Grant Goodyear <g2boojum@gentoo.org>
6			Status: Active
7			Type: Informational
8			Content-Type: text/x-rst
9			Created: 31-May-2003
10	dev-zero	1.12	Post-History: 1-Jun-2003, 2-Jul-2003, 19-Jan-2008, 05-Jun-2008
11	peper	1.10
12			Credits
13			=======
14
15			The GLEP concept, and, in fact, much of the text of this document,
16			is liberally stolen from Python's [#Python]_ PEPs
17			[#PEPS]_, especially
18			PEP-0001 [#PEP1]_ by Barry A. Warsaw, Jeremy Hylton, and David Goodger.
19
20			What is a GLEP?
21			===============
22
23			GLEP stands for "Gentoo Linux Enhancement Proposal". A GLEP is a design
24			document providing information to the Gentoo Linux community, or describing
25			a new feature for Gentoo Linux. The GLEP should provide a concise technical
26			specification of the feature and rationale for the feature.
27
28			We intend GLEPs to be the primary mechanisms for proposing significant new
29			features, for collecting community input on an issue, and for
30			documenting the design decisions that have gone into Gentoo Linux. The GLEP
31			author is responsible for building consensus within the community and
32			documenting dissenting opinions.
33
34			Because the GLEPs are maintained as text files under CVS control, their
35			revision history is the historical record of the feature proposal
36			[#CVS]_.
37
38
39			Kinds of GLEPs
40			==============
41
42			There are two kinds of GLEPs. A Standards Track GLEP describes a new feature
43			or implementation for Gentoo Linux. An Informational GLEP describes provides
44			general guidelines or information to the Gentoo Linux community, but does not
45			propose a new feature. Informational GLEPs do not necessarily represent a
46			Gentoo Linux community consensus or recommendation, so users and implementors
47			are free to ignore Informational GLEPs or follow their advice.
48
49
50			GLEP Work Flow
51			==============
52
53			The GLEP editors assign GLEP numbers and change their status. The current
54			GLEP editors are Grant Goodyear and Alastair Tse. Please send all
55			GLEP-related email to <glep@gentoo.org>.
56
57			The GLEP process begins with a new idea for Gentoo Linux. It is highly
58			recommended that a single GLEP contain a single key proposal or new idea. The
59			more focussed the GLEP, the more successful it tends to be. The GLEP editors
60			reserve the right to reject GLEP proposals if they appear too unfocussed or
61			too broad. If in doubt, split your GLEP into several well-focussed ones.
62
63			Each GLEP must have a champion -- someone who writes the GLEP using the style
64			and format described below, shepherds the discussions in the appropriate
65			forums, and attempts to build community consensus around the idea. The GLEP
66			champion (a.k.a. Author) should first attempt to ascertain whether the idea is
67			GLEP-able. Small enhancements or patches often don't need a GLEP and can be
68			injected into the Gentoo Linux development work flow with an enhancement "bug"
69			submitted to the Gentoo Linux bugzilla [#BUGS]_.
70
71			The GLEP champion then emails the GLEP editors <glep@gentoo.org> with a
72			proposed title and a rough, but fleshed out, draft of the GLEP. This draft
73			must be written in GLEP style as described below.
74
75			If the GLEP editor accepts the GLEP, he will assign the GLEP a number, label
76			it as Standards Track (a better name would be nice here -- suggestions?) or
77			Informational, give it status "Draft", and create and check-in the initial
78			draft of the GLEP. The GLEP editors will not unreasonably deny a GLEP.
79			Reasons for denying GLEP status include duplication of effort, being
80			technically unsound, not providing proper motivation or addressing backwards
81			compatibility, or not in keeping with Gentoo Linux philosophy.
82
83			If a pre-GLEP is rejected, the author may elect to take the pre-GLEP to the
84			gentoo-dev@gentoo.org mailing list to help flesh it out, gain feedback and
85			consensus from the community at large, and improve the GLEP for re-submission.
86
87			The author of the GLEP is then responsible for posting the GLEP to the
88			gentoo-dev mailing list and to the Gentoo Linux forums [#FORUMS]_, and
89			marshaling community support for it. As updates are necessary, the GLEP
90			author can check in new versions if they have CVS commit permissions, or can
91			email new GLEP versions to the GLEP editors for committing.
92
93			Standards Track GLEPs consist of two parts, a design document and a reference
94			implementation. The GLEP should be reviewed and accepted before a reference
95			implementation is begun, unless a reference implementation will aid people in
96			studying the GLEP. Standards Track GLEPs must include an implementation -- in
97			the form of code, patch, or URL to same -- before it can be considered Final.
98
99			GLEP authors are responsible for collecting community feedback on a GLEP
100			before submitting it for review. A GLEP that has not been discussed on
101			gentoo-dev@gentoo.org and/or the Gentoo Linux forums [#FORUMS]_ will not be
102			accepted. However, wherever possible, long open-ended discussions on public
103			mailing lists should be avoided. Strategies to keep the discussions efficient
104			include setting up a specific forums thread for the topic, having the GLEP
105			author accept private comments in the early design phases, etc. GLEP authors
106			should use their discretion here.
107
108			Once the authors have completed a GLEP, they must inform the GLEP editors that
109			it is ready for review. GLEPs are reviewed by the appropriate Gentoo
110			Manager [#MANAGER]_, who may approve or reject a GLEP outright, or
111			send it back to the author(s) for revision. For a GLEP that is pre-determined
112			to be approvable (e.g., it is an obvious win as-is and/or its implementation
113			has already been checked in) the appropriate Gentoo Manager [#MANAGER]_
114			may also initiate a GLEP review, first notifying the GLEP author(s) and giving
115			them a chance to make revisions.
116
117			For a GLEP to be approved it must meet certain minimum criteria. It must be a
118			clear and complete description of the proposed enhancement. The enhancement
119			must represent a net improvement. The proposed implementation, if applicable,
120			must be solid and must not complicate the distribution unduly. Finally, a
121			proposed enhancement must satisfy the philosophy of Gentoo Linux.
122
123			Once a GLEP has been accepted, the reference implementation must be completed.
124			When the reference implementation is complete and accepted, the status will be
125			changed to "Final".
126
127			A GLEP can also be assigned status "Deferred". The GLEP author or editor can
128			assign the GLEP this status when no progress is being made on the GLEP. Once
129			a GLEP is deferred, the GLEP editor can re-assign it to draft status.
130
131			A GLEP can also be "Rejected". Perhaps after all is said and done it was not
132			a good idea. It is still important to have a record of this fact.
133
134			GLEPs can also be replaced by a different GLEP, rendering the original
135			obsolete (where version 2 of a policy, for example, might replace version 1).
136
137			GLEP work flow is as follows::
138
139			Draft -> Accepted -> Final -> Replaced
140			^
141			+----> Rejected
142			v
143			Deferred
144
145			Some Informational GLEPs may also have a status of "Active" if they are never
146			meant to be completed. E.g. GLEP 1 (this GLEP).
147
148
149			What belongs in a successful GLEP?
150			==================================
151
152			Each GLEP should have the following parts:
153
154			1. Preamble -- RFC 822 style headers containing meta-data about the
155			GLEP, including the GLEP number, a short descriptive title (limited
156			to a maximum of 44 characters), the names, and optionally the
157			contact info for each author, etc.
158
159			2. Abstract -- a short (~200 word) description of the technical issue
160			being addressed.
161
162			3. Motivation -- The motivation is critical for GLEPs that want to
163			modify Gentoo Linux functionality. It should clearly explain why the
164			existing functionality or policy is inadequate to address the problem that
165			the GLEP solves. GLEP submissions without sufficient motivation may be
166			rejected outright.
167
168			4. Specification -- The technical specification should describe the
169			specific areas of Gentoo Linux that would be touched by this GLEP. If new
170			functionality is being introduced, what packages will that functionality
171			affect? If new policy, who will be affected?
172
173			5. Rationale -- The rationale fleshes out the specification by
174			describing what motivated the design and why particular design decisions
175			were made. It should describe alternate designs that were considered and
176			related work, e.g. how the feature is supported in other distributions.
177
178			The rationale should provide evidence of consensus within the community and
179			discuss important objections or concerns raised during discussion.
180
181			6. Backwards Compatibility -- All GLEPs
182			must include a section describing any issues of backwards incompatibilities
183			and their severity. The GLEP must explain how the author proposes to deal
184			with these incompatibilities. (Even if there are none, this section should
185			be included to clearly state that fact.) GLEP submissions without a
186			sufficient backwards compatibility treatise may be rejected outright.
187
188			7. Reference Implementation -- The reference implementation must be
189			completed before any GLEP is given status "Final", but it need not be
190			completed before the GLEP is accepted. It is better to finish the
191			specification and rationale first and reach consensus on it before writing
192			code or significantly modifying ebuilds.
193
194			8. Copyright/public domain -- Each GLEP must either be explicitly
195			labelled as placed in the public domain (see this GLEP as an example) or
196			licensed under the Open Publication License [#OPL].
197
198
199			GLEP Formating and Template
200			===========================
201
202			GLEPs are written either in Gentoo Linux Guide-XML [#GUIDEXML]_ or in
203			a just-barely-marked-up version of plain ASCII text
204			called ReStructuredText [#ReSTHOME]_ that is then converted to HTML using
205			Docutils [#DOCUTILS]_. Using ReStructuredText GLEPs allows for rich markup
206			that is still quite easy to read, but results in much better-looking and more
207			functional HTML. Moreover, it should be straightforward to convert GLEPs to
208			Gentoo Linux guide xml [#GUIDEXML]_ if needed. GLEP 2 contains a boilerplate
209			template [#ReST]_ for use with ReStructuredText GLEPs.
210
211
212			GLEP Header Preamble
213			====================
214
215			Each GLEP must begin with an RFC 2822 style header preamble. The headers
216			must appear in the following order. Headers marked with "*" are
217			optional and are described below. All other headers are required. ::
218
219			GLEP: <glep number>
220			Title: <glep title>
221			Version: <cvs version string>
222			Last-Modified: <cvs date string>
223			Author: <list of authors' real names and optionally, email addrs>
224			* Discussions-To: <email address>
225			Status: <Draft \| Active \| Accepted \| Deferred \| Rejected \|
226			Final \| Replaced>
227			Type: <Informational \| Standards Track>
228			* Content-Type: <text/plain \| text/x-rst>
229			* Requires: <glep numbers>
230			Created: <date created on, in dd-mmm-yyyy format>
231			Post-History: <dates of postings to gentoo-dev>
232			* Replaces: <glep number>
233			* Replaced-By: <glep number>
234
235			The Author header lists the names, and optionally the email addresses
236			of all the authors/owners of the GLEP. The format of the Author header
237			value must be
238
239			Random J. User <address@dom.ain>
240
241			if the email address is included, and just
242
243			Random J. User
244
245			if the address is not given.
246
247			If there are multiple authors, each should be on a separate line
248			following RFC 2822 continuation line conventions. Note that personal
249			email addresses in GLEPs will be obscured as a defense against spam
250			harvesters.
251
252			While a GLEP is in private discussions (usually during the initial Draft
253			phase), a Discussions-To header will indicate the mailing list or URL where
254			the GLEP is being discussed. No Discussions-To header is necessary if the
255			GLEP is being discussed privately with the author, or on the gentoo-dev
256			mailing list. Note that email addresses in the Discussions-To header will not
257			be obscured.
258
259			The Type header specifies the type of GLEP: Informational or Standards
260			Track.
261
262			The format of a GLEP is specified with a Content-Type header, which
263			should read "text/xml" for Gentoo Guide XML or
264			"text/x-rst" for ReStructuredText GLEPs (see GLEP 2
265			[#ReST]_).
266
267			The Created header records the date that the GLEP was assigned a number, while
268			Post-History is used to record the dates of when new versions of the GLEP are
269			posted to gentoo-dev. Both headers should be in dd-mmm-yyyy format, e.g.
270			14-Aug-2001.
271
272			GLEPs may have a Requires header, indicating the GLEP numbers that this GLEP
273			depends on.
274
275			GLEPs may also have a Replaced-By header indicating that a GLEP has been
276			rendered obsolete by a later document; the value is the number of the GLEP
277			that replaces the current document. The newer GLEP must have a Replaces
278			header containing the number of the GLEP that it rendered obsolete.
279
280
281			Reporting GLEP Bugs, or Submitting GLEP Updates
282			===============================================
283
284			How you report a bug, or submit a GLEP update depends on several factors, such
285			as the maturity of the GLEP, the preferences of the GLEP author, and the
286			nature of your comments. For the early draft stages of the GLEP, it's
287			probably best to send your comments and changes directly to the GLEP author.
288			For more mature, or finished GLEPs you may want to submit corrections to the
289			Gentoo Linux bugzilla [#BUGS]_ so that your changes don't get lost. If the GLEP
290			author is a Gentoo Linux developer, assign the bug/patch to him, otherwise
291			assign it to the GLEP editors.
292
293			When in doubt about where to send your changes, please check first with the
294			GLEP author and/or GLEP editors.
295
296			GLEP authors who are also Gentoo Linux developers can update the GLEPs
297			themselves by using "cvs commit" to commit their changes.
298
299			Transferring GLEP Ownership
300			===========================
301
302			It occasionally becomes necessary to transfer ownership of GLEPs to a new
303			champion. In general, we'd like to retain the original author as a co-author
304			of the transferred GLEP, but that's really up to the original author. A good
305			reason to transfer ownership is because the original author no longer has the
306			time or interest in updating it or following through with the GLEP process, or
307			has fallen off the face of the 'net (i.e. is unreachable or not responding to
308			email). A bad reason to transfer ownership is because you don't agree with
309			the direction of the GLEP. We try to build consensus around a GLEP, but if
310			that's not possible, you can always submit a competing GLEP.
311
312			If you are interested in assuming ownership of a GLEP, send a message asking
313			to take over, addressed to both the original author and the GLEP editors
314			<glep@gentoo.org>. If the original author doesn't respond to email in a
315			timely manner, the GLEP editors will make a unilateral decision (it's not like
316			such decisions can't be reversed :).
317
318
319			References and Footnotes
320			========================
321
322			.. [#PYTHON] http://www.python.org
323
324			.. [#PEPS] http://www.python.org/peps
325
326			.. [#PEP1] http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0001.html
327
328			.. [#CVS] This historical record is available by the normal CVS commands
329			for retrieving older revisions. For those without direct access to the CVS
330			tree, you can browse the current and past GLEP revisions via the Gentoo
331			Linux viewcvs web site at
332			http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/
333
334			.. [#ReST] GLEP 2, Sample ReStructuredText GLEP Template,
335			(http://glep.gentoo.org/glep-0002.html)
336
337			.. [#BUGS] http://bugs.gentoo.org
338
339			.. [#FORUMS] http://forums.gentoo.org
340
341			.. [#MANAGER] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/management-structure.xml
342
343			.. [#OPL] http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/
344
345			.. [#ReSTHOME] http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html
346
347			.. [#GUIDEXML] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/xml-guide.xml
348
349			.. [#DOCUTILS] http://docutils.sourceforge.net/
350
351
352			Copyright
353			=========
354
355			This document has been placed in the public domain.