Documentation refresh with focus on contribution guidelines

README.md

@@ -4,18 +4,13 @@ Introduction
 LibreNMS is an autodiscovering PHP/MySQL/SNMP based network monitoring
 which includes support for a wide range of network hardware and operating
 systems including Cisco, Linux, FreeBSD, Juniper, Brocade, Foundry, HP and
-many more.
+many more.  LibreNMS is a community-based fork of [Observium][9].
 
-LibreNMS is a community-based fork of the last GPL-licensed version of
-[Observium][9].  LibreNMS intends to be a viable network monitoring project
-and community that:
+We intend LibreNMS to be a viable project and community that:
 - encourages contribution,
 - focuses on the needs of its users, and
 - offers a welcoming, friendly environment for everyone.
 
-If you're visiting because of a mention on the Observium mailing list,
-please read our [welcome to Observium users][12].
-
 The [Debian Social Contract][10] will be the basis of our priority system,
 and mutual respect the basis of our behaviour towards others.  For more
 about the culture we're trying to build, please read the [Freenode
@@ -26,31 +21,20 @@ philosophy][13], including [guidelines for running an IRC channel][6] and
 Documentation
 -------------
 
-For now documentation can be found in the [doc directory][5].
+Documentation can be found in the [doc directory][5], including instructions
+for installing and contributing.
 
 
-Installation
-------------
-
-See `doc/INSTALL.md` for details.
-
-
-Developing
-----------
-
-See `doc/DEVEL.md` for details.
-
-
-Contributing
-------------
+Participating
+-------------
 
 You can participate in the project by:
 - Joining the [librenms-project][1] mailing list to post questions and
   suggestions.
-- Cloning the [repo][2] and filing bug reports and pull requests on github.
-  See [CONTRIBUTING][15] for more details.
 - Talking to us on [Twitter][3] or [IRC][4].
 - Improving the [documentation][5].
+- Cloning the [repo][2] and filing bug reports and pull requests on github.
+  See [CONTRIBUTING][15] for more details.
 
 
 Try It

doc/CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -24,9 +24,13 @@ the commit log:
 	I agree to the conditions of the Contributor Agreement
 	contained in doc/CONTRIBUTING.md.
 ```
-Note that contributors to LibreNMS retain copyright to their own code and
-are not required to sign over their rights to any other party.  You maintain
-all rights to your own code.
+
+
+Copyright
+---------
+
+All contributors to LibreNMS retain copyright to their own code and are not
+required to sign over their rights to any other party.
 
 We recommend that if you add a new file containing original code to the code
 base that you include a copyright notice in it as per the Free Software
@@ -52,11 +56,11 @@ your code.  Please see LICENSE.txt at the top of this source code
 distribution for details.
 
 
-Guidelines for contributing to LibreNMS
----------------------------------------
+General Guidelines
+------------------
 
 - Test your patches first.  It's easy to set up git to push to a bare
-  repository on a local test system, and pull from this into your live
+  repository on a local test system, and pull from this into a live test
   installation at very frequent intervals.
 
 - Don't break the poller.  User interface blemishes are not critical, but
@@ -76,6 +80,27 @@ Guidelines for contributing to LibreNMS
   able.  Collaborating in real time makes the coordination of contributions
   easier.
 
+
+Integrating other code
+----------------------
+
+Giving credit where credit is due is critical to the Free Software
+philosophy.  If you use code from somewhere else, even if it's trivial,
+be sure to note this as a comment in the code (preferably) or the commit
+message.
+
+- To incorporate larger blocks of code from third parties (e.g. JavaScript
+  libraries):
+    - Include its name, source URL, copyright notice, and license in
+      doc/CREDITS.md
+    - preferred locations are html/js, html/lib, and lib
+    - Add it in a separate commit into its own directory, using
+      'git subtree --squash' if it is available via git.
+    - Add the code to integrate it in a separate commit.  Include:
+        - code to update it in Makefile
+	- Scrutinizer exclusions to .scrutinizer.yml
+	- symlinks where necessary to maintain sensible paths
+
 - Don't submit code whose license conflicts with the GPLv3.  If you're not
   sure, consult the [Free Software Foundation's license list][1] and see if
   your code's license is on the compatible or incompatible list.  If you

doc/CREDITS.md

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+LibreNMS is a fork of the last GPL-licensed revision of Observium.
+  http://observium.org/
+  Copyright 2006-2012 Adam Armstrong <adama@memetic.org>.
+  GPLv3
+
+LibreNMS ships with the following software components:
+
+- Bootstrap Datetime picker
+  https://github.com/Eonasdan/bootstrap-datetimepicker
+  Copyright (c) 2014 Eonasdan, nikoskalogridis
+  MIT License
+
+- Moment
+  http://momentjs.com
+  MIT License
+
+
+Other components (needs details filled in):
+- JpGraph (html/includes/jpgraph): QPL 1.0 license
+- MIBS (mibs): unknown/various
+- html/graph-realtime.php: BSD (original?)
+- html/includes/collectd/: GPLv2 only
+- overLIB (html/js/overlib_mini.js): modified Artistic 1.0?
+- scripts/*/mysql: GPLv2 only
+- check_mk (scripts/observium_agent*): GPLv2
+- qTip (html/css/jquery.qtip.min.css and html/js/qtip/jquery.qtip.min.js): GPLv2
+