PySAL is adopting many of the conventions in the larger scientific computing in Python community and we ask that any one interested in joining the project please review the following documents:
PySAL is an open source project and we invite any interested user who wants to contribute to the project to contact one of the team members. For users who are new to open source development you may want to consult the following documents for background information:
PySAL uses Google Code and subversion for our code repository. Prospective developers can check out the current version using:
svn checkout http://pysal.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ pysal-read-only
while developers with commit rights can use:
svn checkout https://pysal.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ pysal --username username
substituting your Google username. When prompted, enter your generated googlecode.com password.
You can setup PySAL for local development following the installation instructions.
PySAL development follows a six-month release schedule that is aligned with the academic calendar.
| Start | End | Phase | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8/1/10 | 10/17/10 | Module Proposals | Developers draft PEPs and prototype |
| 10/17/10 | 10/30/10 | Module Selection | Developers discuss candidate PEPS, BDFL calls vote |
| 11/1/10 | 11/1/10 | Module Approval | BDFL announces final approval |
| 11/2/10 | 12/31/10 | Development | Implementation and testing of approved modules |
| 1/1/11 | 1/1/11 | Code Freeze | APIs fixed, bug and testing changes only |
| 1/2/11 | 1/8/11 | RC 1 | Release candidate 1 |
| 1/9/11 | 1/15/11 | RC 2 | Release candidate 2 |
| 1/16/11 | 1/22/11 | RC 3 | Release candidate 3 |
| 1/23/11 | 1/30/11 | Release Prep | Final builds, updating svn |
| 1/31/11 | 1/31/11 | Release | Official release of 1.1 |
| Start | End | Phase | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/1/11 | 4/17/11 | Module Proposals | Developers draft PEPs and prototype |
| 4/17/11 | 4/30/11 | Module Selection | Developers discuss candidate PEPS, BDFL calls vote |
| 5/1/11 | 5/1/11 | Module Approval | BDFL announces final approval |
| 5/2/11 | 6/30/11 | Development | Implementation and testing of approved modules |
| 7/1/11 | 7/1/11 | Code Freeze | APIs fixed, bug and testing changes only |
| 7/2/11 | 7/8/11 | RC 1 | Release candidate 1 |
| 7/9/11 | 7/15/11 | RC 2 | Release candidate 2 |
| 7/16/11 | 7/22/11 | RC 3 | Release candidate 3 |
| 7/23/11 | 7/30/11 | Release Prep | Final builds, updating svn |
| 7/31/11 | 7/31/11 | Release | Official release of 2.0 |
PySAL is organized around the Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) model of project management. The BDFL is responsible for overall project management and direction. Developers have a critical role in shaping that direction. Specific roles and rights are as follows:
| Title | Role | Rights |
|---|---|---|
| BDFL | Project Director | Commit, Voting, Veto, Developer Approval/Management |
| Developer | Development | Commit, Voting |
During the initial phase of a release cycle, new functionality for PySAL should be described in a PySAL Enhancment Proposal (PEP). These should follow the standard format used by the Python project. For PySAL, the PEP process is as follows