Ways to Contribute
You can help the Ethernut project in many ways and we generally welcome all contributions.
Contributing Code
This is probably the most popular way of contributing to the project. Our BSD license allows you, to use all the code free of charge without the need to publish any of your enhancements. You still may decide to contribute some of your changes to make sure they will be included in and maintained for future distributions.
Compared to larger Open Source Communities, we do not yet have a strict policy. Almost anything is welcome as long as it doesn't harm the existing code base and follows a few basic guidelines.
License Issues
Make sure that you understood the BSD License and clearly mark your code, that it is published under these conditions. If re-using code from other Open Source Project, it must have been published under the same license or should be transferable to it (e.g. public domain code). Code published under GPL is not admissible in the core distribution.
A special contrib directory had been made available, which allows to add contributions under different license models.
Any tools, which are used to configure or build Nut/OS binaries, program target boards etc. may be published under different licenses as long as none of this code will become part of the code running on the final target system. For example, the GNU compiler or the Nut/OS Configurator are published under GPL.
Programming Style
First of all, do not miss to read the Nut/OS Programming Style Guide.
Getting the latest code
You can access the latest status of the source code directly from the This document.
Contributing Quality
If you think you found a bug or if you are missing an important feature, please use the Sourceforge Tracker. If you are not sure, you may want discuss this in the Mailing List before creating an entry in the tracker. But note, that mailing list posts may easily get lost over the time. Entering a false bug into the tracker will require a few seconds of the admin's time to reject it. Not entering a severe bug in the tracker will waste the time of all the people who are not aware of this bug. The same is true for outdated or wrong documentation (see below).
When suggesting new features, do not hesitate to refer to competing projects and products.
Contributing Documentation
Many Open Source Projects offer insufficient documentation. Open Source Developers are visonary people, bent on implementing their latest cool ideas. Often not much time is left to maintain the documents.
When comparing Ethernut to similar projects, you will probably notice some advantages like the detailed API documentation. Nevertheless, newbies often find it difficult to become familiar with some aspects of the software and the hardware. If you are in this situation, why not spend a bit more time and write down your findings. This will not only help others, but will also strengthen your own knowledge.
You may publish your paper in the Ethernut Mailing List, in the NutWiki or on your own website, in which case you should publish the URL in the mailing or the NutWiki.
Ethernut is an international project and many of the people involved are not native English speakers. If you are able to transform our stuttering to fluid English, then you will be our hero.
Contributing Support
The Mailing List is the first place to ask for help. You are invited to take part.
Companies using Nut/OS with their products are often asking for commercial support. If you are able to offer this, please let us know. We will be happy to add your company to the support page.
Contributing Money
The Ethernut Project itself doesn't offer a way to collect money or other valuables. Most developers are paid by their employers, who use the results in commercial applications.
However, some users and developers are students. Purchasing the required hardware is often difficult for them, specially if they are living in developing countries. The mailing list will be the right place to get in contact. If you prefer to avoid publicity, you may get in touch with one of the developers via private email. Email addresses of developers are recorded in the ChangeLog file or may be obtained from the mailing list archive.
Contributing Publicity
Although mentioned last, this is a very important way to contribute. Write about Nut/OS in your blog, upload a video about your Nut/OS driven gadget to YouTube or publish a review in a related forum or magazine.
In general, convince people to chose Open Source Products.
