contributing.md

Contributing to cavOS

First off, I'm flattered you're willing to help with cavOS' development! So, thank you in advance for that :^)

However, as you'd expect with any sort of kernel, contributions of any sort go through a lot of auditing. That also takes a lot of time, so please be patient as your submission is reviewed.

Requirements

• Proper code formatting:
  • Run make format before creating a pull request.
  • Your submission will be checked using make format_check to make sure it adheres with code formatting guidelines. This is necessary so file changes are readable and code is generally consistent.
  • For unsupported file types (like assembly, makefile, bash, etc) code quality will be reviewed by hand but keep it clean, using already pushed stuff as a reference.
• Testing:
  • Build cavOS and boot into it to test your changes. make qemu or make vmware are your best friend.
  • Do NOT submit untested code, as that wastes the contributors' time.
  • The same applies when changing utility scripts which are executed by the build system. Test those thoroughly as well.
• Code familiarity:
  • The biggest reason cavOS exists is code simplicity. I wanted its code to remain relatively simple while being powerful. It's easier to write tons of complex code in comparison to simpler code for the same goal. I generally prefer the latter.
  • Please avoid useless assembly! Anything that isn't plain impossible to do in C (for instance interrupt/syscall entries or some scheduler parts) you shouldn't write assembly code for. It's hard for other contributors and myself to understand and there's a much greater chance of mistakes being made.
  • Keep in mind that submissions can be rejected for any reason, even if they do something in a "better way". At the end of the day, the maintainer gets to decide what makes it to the master branch.

Go for it!

With everything out of the way, good luck solider!