[long e-mail] Want to help Gtk-Perl? Help update project information and metadata in Gtk-Perl modules!

[Brian Manning <cpan xaoc org>]

Hi all,

I've been working over the last year or two to update project
information and metadata of the Gtk-Perl modules.  Some of these
things we've been receiving tickets for, other changes were inspired
by people asking questions on the mailing list.  I thought it would be
nice to try document what changes I have been doing, so that others
who are interested can get involved and contribute towards the
project.

There are four things that I have been doing to each Gtk-Perl module as needed;

1) Update the README file with all of the appropriate contact
information for that module.  This includes the e-mail addresses to
the mailing list and to RT for e-mailing bugs, and URLs for the
project homepage, mailing list archives, IRC channel, and RT/Bugzilla
web interfaces.  Also, I have added short sections to the README on
how to report bugs, how to clone the module using Git, and guidelines
for submitting patches.

2) Update the CPAN metadata in modules.  This metadata will be used to
populate the module information block on MetaCPAN, so it will make it
very easy to jump from the module's MetaCPAN page to whatever
resources you're interested in viewing (project homepage, module's Git
repo, etc.).  You can add metadata either to Makefile.PL, or for
modules that build with Dist::Zilla, in dist.ini.  This metadata can
include things like bugtrackers, source repositories, project
webpages, and even the project's Twitter account (@GTKPerl).

3) Update the Free Software Foundation's physical mailing address.
The FSF moved their office/mailing address about 2-3 years ago, so all
of the places in Gtk-Perl modules where the FSF's address was used now
need to have those addresses updated (or even removed, see the next
item).  We have received multiple bugs on Gtk-Perl modules for this
issue alone.

4) Shorten the GPL/LGPL license notice in source code to 2 paragraphs,
instead of 3.  Because some Gtk-Perl modules have the FSF's address in
multiple files, and other modules only have it in the LICENSE file
that comes with that module, I decided to remove the address from
everywhere in the module source files, except for the LICENSE file
itself.  That way, if the FSF decides to move again, updating the
address will only have to be done in one file, instead of many.

I've audited all of the Gtk-Perl modules located on
http://git.gnome.org, and created a table showing which modules have
had the above four changes applied and which modules have not.  You
can view this table at:

http://cdn.xaoc.org/gtk-perl/module_conversion.html

with the "asciidoc" source for this table located at:

https://github.com/cpanxaoc/gtk-perl-notes/blob/master/module_conversion.txt

The "Status" column in the table shows the status of changes for each
module.  If the module is not marked with a "Done", then one or more
of the changes outlined above need to be applied to the module.

I am slowly working on modules when I get time, updating everything in
the list linked above, but I would not mind some help.  All that is
really required is some knowledge of Git, your favorite text editor,
and the desire to help.  I will be more than happy to walk you through
the process, audit the changes you make, and answer questions that you
may have relating to these changes.  You can either submit patches to
me, to the mailing list, or I can clone the module you want to work on
to my personal GitHub account, and you can send me GitHub pull
requests for your changes.

If you want to see the changes above in action, I have just made
changes listed above to the Pango module, so that you can see through
my commits what should be changed, and how the changes should be
formatted.  I have also done similar changes to Cairo and
Cairo::GObject, all of those modules can be used as a reference for
the work that I am asking for help with.

1) Updates to the README file;

Change at git.gnome.org:
https://git.gnome.org/browse/perl-Pango/commit/?id=16820f3331c053c04a57db0261bb7ad4ab8b14eb
Personal GitHub account:
https://github.com/cpanxaoc/perl-Pango/commit/16820f3331c053c04a57db0261bb7ad4ab8b14eb

Note that for this change, there's a copy/paste error, which was fixed
in the subsequent commit.

2) Updates to CPAN metadata;

Change at git.gnome.org:
https://git.gnome.org/browse/perl-Pango/commit/?id=d1b896ce3a2af13502986e9aaa21aaa6cc04ef23
Personal GitHub account:
https://github.com/cpanxaoc/perl-Pango/commit/d1b896ce3a2af13502986e9aaa21aaa6cc04ef23

3) Updating the FSF's mailing address;

Change at git.gnome.org:
https://git.gnome.org/browse/perl-Pango/commit/?id=1d9697f91130265453df23036b7f74e0536f9db0
Personal GitHub account:
https://github.com/cpanxaoc/perl-Pango/commit/1d9697f91130265453df23036b7f74e0536f9db0

4) Shortening the FSF license notices;

Change at git.gnome.org:
https://git.gnome.org/browse/perl-Pango/commit/?id=a6e364cd9fedcced40a21c47585d4cfac619648a
Personal GitHub account:
https://github.com/cpanxaoc/perl-Pango/commit/a6e364cd9fedcced40a21c47585d4cfac619648a

*NOTE*: I am not changing the license terms of the module itself, just
removing the paragraph in the license with the FSF's address, and then
referring people to the main LICENSE file provided with each module.

Again, I am working through all of the Gtk-Perl modules and making
these changes as I get time, so eventually they will all be updated,
but I thought I would extend the offer to the community to see if
anybody was interested in helping out with the work.

If you're interested in helping out, please contact me offline at cpan
{at} xaoc.org, and let me know what module you're interested in
working on, and how you want to send changes to me.  I look forward to
hearing from you soon!

Thanks,

Brian