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Contributing to Zynthian Development (view source)

Revision as of 20:05, 29 January 2024

2,762 bytes added ,  29 January
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It is perfect understandable if you are approaching this for the first time, with a burning desire to solve a specific musical dilemma with code. Treat it as an opportunity to learn. It is a process that can, at first, appear overly involved and, perhaps, a little bureaucratic, but there are good reasons for the approach that's taken. It has succeeded to keep track of enormous code bases securely, sometimes in the face of actively hostile actions by others. It is this very characteristic that means that many open source projects operate that way, and may give people an insight into quite what 'open source code visible to all really' means for us.   
 
It is perfect understandable if you are approaching this for the first time, with a burning desire to solve a specific musical dilemma with code. Treat it as an opportunity to learn. It is a process that can, at first, appear overly involved and, perhaps, a little bureaucratic, but there are good reasons for the approach that's taken. It has succeeded to keep track of enormous code bases securely, sometimes in the face of actively hostile actions by others. It is this very characteristic that means that many open source projects operate that way, and may give people an insight into quite what 'open source code visible to all really' means for us.   
 
Also this robustness should resolve you of fears about 'doing some damage'. This well walked path of forking a repository, and making a Pull request protects you the community from yourself in an agreed fashion.  
 
Also this robustness should resolve you of fears about 'doing some damage'. This well walked path of forking a repository, and making a Pull request protects you the community from yourself in an agreed fashion.  
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=== Could you tell me about the codebase? ===
 
=== Could you tell me about the codebase? ===
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It's open source. Absolutely whatever they want to do . . .  
 
It's open source. Absolutely whatever they want to do . . .  
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For example.. These are devices that have code written specifically for them....
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[[Supported MIDI controllers|Supported_MIDI_controllers]]
    
Personally I do soundscapes, church bells and cajon enhancement, and much of this built without any direct purchase from the zynthian site. The Hardware designs are up on the site if you want to make your own. You'd probably even get advise on how to do it on the forum if you ask ...
 
Personally I do soundscapes, church bells and cajon enhancement, and much of this built without any direct purchase from the zynthian site. The Hardware designs are up on the site if you want to make your own. You'd probably even get advise on how to do it on the forum if you ask ...
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Probably to do something with a particular piece of equipment that you want to customise to aid you in your sound based endeavours.
 
Probably to do something with a particular piece of equipment that you want to customise to aid you in your sound based endeavours.
 
The output of MIDI based equipment presents it's self easily to a python code base that allows messages to be detected in an orderly fashion and then pretty much any aspect of the zynthian can be modified to obey your will. This has grown up from user dialog within the forum [https://discourse.zynthian.org/ Zynthian Forum]which is an excellent place to start with questions, suggestions and the truly crazy range of things people do with these machines.
 
The output of MIDI based equipment presents it's self easily to a python code base that allows messages to be detected in an orderly fashion and then pretty much any aspect of the zynthian can be modified to obey your will. This has grown up from user dialog within the forum [https://discourse.zynthian.org/ Zynthian Forum]which is an excellent place to start with questions, suggestions and the truly crazy range of things people do with these machines.
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Here's the current list of devices...[[Supported MIDI controllers|Supported_MIDI_controllers]]
    
=== Can I do damage to MY zynthian with the code I write ? ===
 
=== Can I do damage to MY zynthian with the code I write ? ===
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No. Your code will be checked by people who control access to the core repository that you get your code from. They will not allow anything into the code base that they don't trust or that doesn't meet house rules about how stuff is written and presented.
 
No. Your code will be checked by people who control access to the core repository that you get your code from. They will not allow anything into the code base that they don't trust or that doesn't meet house rules about how stuff is written and presented.
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=== It is 'suggested' one creates a task/issue? how do I do that ? ===
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"it's a good habit to create a task/issue associated with more relevant changes"
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=== How is code of the zynthian maintained? ===
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You can log onto a Zynthian itself as the root user if you have the password (it's set to raspberry), but you might well change it on a performance machine. People will find it very amusing to log onto your machine pre or during performance if they can, and if you don't change the password....  
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Goto the zynthian issue tracker github page...
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[[File:Zynthian-issue-tracker-page.png|600px|thumb|center]]
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[[File:A-terminial-sshing.png|600px|center| An ssh terminal from a host computer (not necessarily yours ....]]
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Then fill out something relevant
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[[File:Duo-piano feature request.png|600px|thumb|center]]
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==== So what have we gained here ? ====
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Well, the communal Zynthian entity gains an area of interest. Even if the task, dies on the vine, and nothing more gets done, there is a possible development signposted. Because these could be allocated to somebody else at some later time which means the code magically appears from someone you probably would never have met. Of course if you go ahead yourself and write it then so much the better. You move that one step closer to the "Had An Open Source PR accepted"
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The github environment allows these relationships to be managed and the more structured this stuff is the less intimidating it becomes. . .
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=== How is code of the zynthian maintained? ===
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You can log onto a Zynthian itself as the root user if you have the password (it's set to raspberry), but you might well change it on a performance machine. People will find it very amusing to log onto your machine pre or during performance if they can, and if you don't change the password....
      
You and they (if you haven't changed the password)  can, and do pretty much anything you want as it it nothing more or less than a raspberry Pi of various vintages running an operating system. So you can edit files to your hearts content and very quickly render your Zynthian unplayable if you don't know what you are doing.
 
You and they (if you haven't changed the password)  can, and do pretty much anything you want as it it nothing more or less than a raspberry Pi of various vintages running an operating system. So you can edit files to your hearts content and very quickly render your Zynthian unplayable if you don't know what you are doing.
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and there are code editors that operate entirely round the command line, allowing you to change the contents of files on the machine.  
 
and there are code editors that operate entirely round the command line, allowing you to change the contents of files on the machine.  
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Here there is no protection. it's your machine and you can break it as you wish, and whilst you will almost certainly get help on the discourse forum, this is not the sort of activity to indulge in twenty five minutes before your performance. It easy to become the essential technician beloved and feared in equal measure, but probably the first concept to learn is stable . . .  
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Here there is no protection. it's your machine and you can break it as you wish, and whilst you will almost certainly get help on the discourse forum, this is not the sort of activity to indulge in twenty five minutes before your performance. It easy to become the essential technician beloved and feared in equal measure, but probably the first concept to learn is the stable branch . . .  
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This is your protection from your own misdeeds with code. In fact it is sensible to keep at least two ssd's with a known good stable version on so you can give the zynth a brain change and keep a separate ssd for your code projects, but if you trash a part of webconf, then you have little or no easy way onto the machine, and you will need your backup... You have been warned!
 
This is your protection from your own misdeeds with code. In fact it is sensible to keep at least two ssd's with a known good stable version on so you can give the zynth a brain change and keep a separate ssd for your code projects, but if you trash a part of webconf, then you have little or no easy way onto the machine, and you will need your backup... You have been warned!
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So now we know how to switch between different branches of code how do we actually set up this new branch?
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So now we know how to switch between different branches of code how do we actually set up this new branch?  
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Is there some magic software tool...?
    
==== So what is an IDE ?====
 
==== So what is an IDE ?====
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There are magic incantations to control zynthian via systemd  
 
There are magic incantations to control zynthian via systemd  
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systemctl stop zynthian
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systemctl stop zynthian
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systemctl start zynthian  
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systemctl start zynthian  
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systemtl status zynthian
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systemtl status zynthian
    
So to stop a running zynthian you issue the first of these and this will tell systemd to ignore the restart so you can take over the running of it.
 
So to stop a running zynthian you issue the first of these and this will tell systemd to ignore the restart so you can take over the running of it.
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==== How do I start a X11 windows server so I can run the code in a debugger? ====
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Once you have stopped the zynthian process you can start it within the VSC debugger which is a good thing, but to allow this to happen you have to start the X11 Windows server to allow you to have something to connect to.
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To do this in the window you typed systemctl stop zynthian type
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X -r -s 0
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You can then start the Debuuger in VSC.
    
==== How do I tell the world about my contribution...? ====
 
==== How do I tell the world about my contribution...? ====
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So we better write some code.
 
So we better write some code.
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=== It is 'suggested' one creates a task/issue? how do I do that ? ===
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"it's a good habit to create a task/issue associated with more relevant changes"
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Goto the zynthian issue tracker github page...
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[[File:Zynthian-issue-tracker-page.png|600px|thumb|center]]
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Then fill out something relevant
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[[File:Duo-piano feature request.png|600px|thumb|center]]
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<br clear=all>
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==== So what have we gained here ? ====
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Well, the communal Zynthian entity gains an area of interest. Even if the task, dies on the vine, and nothing more gets done, there is a possible development signposted. You also get a unique identity number that goes into the Zynthian event queue. #941 in this case. This is an identifier you can add into a connect with Pull requests so the call for work and the doing of work can be related, tracked and pull requested, accepted tested and  completed.
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This sort of structure within a project like Zynthian is a very good thing. And if precisely scratching your name into a spaceship excites you, then take this as an early buzz.
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[[File:Zynthian Issues page.png|600px|center]]
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Because an event could be allocated to somebody else at some later time which means the code magically appears from someone you probably would never have met. Of course if you go ahead yourself and write it then so much the better. You move that one step closer to the "Had An Open Source PR accepted"
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The github environment allows these relationships to be managed and the more structured this stuff is the less intimidating it becomes. . .
    
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[[File:Remote-rack2-code display.png|600px|thumb|center]]
 
[[File:Remote-rack2-code display.png|600px|thumb|center]]
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==== How Do I stop being asked for my password? ====
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on your host machine type:
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ssh-copy-id root@zynthian-your-machine-name.local
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This will copy the key from your host computer to your remote host, where it will allow you to log on without providing the machine password each time, just a first confirmation by asking for your passphrase NOT your password. and when you need to enter the password the first time you will be asked for you pass phrase, if you set one, and since you have probably set this up for github you will have done,
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This should reduce the chatter a fair bit, but it may still occasionally ask just out of a certain degree of paranoia.. .
    
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and just as a further illustration her is the git graph vsc plugin showing tramlines for this repository.
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==== Can I see a diagram of the my various zynthian various branches? ====
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Here is the git graph vsc plugin showing tramlines for this repository. You will need to install this plugin to get this.  
    
[[File:Git-tramlines.png|600px|thumb|center]]
 
[[File:Git-tramlines.png|600px|thumb|center]]
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==== Can I see a diagram of the various branches in the zynthian github page ? ====
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From the github.com/zynthian/zynthian-ui/  you can select insights in the top menu and then Network in the left hand vertical menu. Github will chug away for a little while having a think then show you this, which now features the duo-piano-device branch waiting for me to submit the completion of the code with some more commits and then the pull request which, if successful will result in the branch being merged into testing, and at some later date in stable .  . .
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[[File:Zynthian-ui-networks.png|600px|thumb|center]]
    
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Wyleu
584

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