Add a CONTRIBUTING.md file

Almost forgot this from the 0.7.0 release…

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Contributing to pylibacl
+
+Hi, and thanks for any and all contributions!
+
+## Bugs and patches
+
+This is a small project, so let's keep things simple:
+
+- Please file all bug reports on github
+  (<https://github.com/iustin/pylibacl/issues>), as this allows
+  archival and discovery by other people;
+- Send patches as pull requests; for larger changes, would be good to
+  first open a bug to discuss the plans;
+
+Due to simplicity, there are no old branches being kept alive, but if
+it ever happens that a bug is found in older versions and there is
+needed to support older Python versions, it is possible to do so.
+
+## Code standards
+
+There are no formal standards, but:
+
+- Code should be tested - this is why there's a [Codecov
+  integration](https://app.codecov.io/gh/iustin/pylibacl/tree/main).
+- New functions should have good docstrings (in the C code).
+- New functions/constants should be listed in the documentation, see
+  `doc/module.rst` for how to include them.
+- All non-trivial changes should be listed in `NEWS.md` for further
+  inclusion in new releases documentation. Add an "unreleased" section
+  (if one doesn't exist yet) to list the changes.
+
+## Release process
+
+Right now, due to GPG signing, I'm doing releases and signing them
+manually (offline, I mean). Basically, once GitHub workflows are fine:
+
+- Bump the version in all places - use `git grep -F $OLD_VER` and
+  update as needed.
+- Ensure that `setup.py` has the right Python versions listed (bit me
+  more than once).
+- Update the `NEWS.md` file is up to date (contents), and use the
+  right date.
+- Check that the generated documentation (`make doc`) looks right.
+
+Then run these steps:
+
+```
+$ make clean
+$ make distcheck # this leaves things in dist/
+$ git tag -m 'Release pylibacl-0.0.1' --sign v0.0.1
+$ gpg --sign -b -a dist/pylibacl-0.0.1.tar.gz
+$ python3 -m twine upload dist/*
+```
+
+Separately:
+
+* Upload the `dist/` contents to GitHub and tag a new release.
+* Upload the `dist/` contents to the old-style download area,
+  <https://pylibacl.k1024.org/downloads/>.
+
+Hopefully one day all this can be more automated.
+
+## Signing key
+
+The releases are currently signed by my key, see <https://k1024.org/contact/>.

NEWS.md

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Otherwise, a minor release:
 - Improved testing coverage and test infrastructure.
 - Modernise parts of the C code based on recent Python version
   guidelines.
+- Add a simple security policy and contribution guidelines.
 
 ## Version 0.6.0
 

README.md

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ version is 0.7.0. The source repository is either at
 For any issues, please file bugs at
 <https://github.com/iustin/pylibacl/issues>.
 
+See the `CONTRIBUTING.md` file for details on how to contribute.
+
 [![GitHub Workflow Status](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/iustin/pylibacl/ci.yml?branch=main)](https://github.com/iustin/pylibacl/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
 [![Codecov](https://img.shields.io/codecov/c/github/iustin/pylibacl)](https://codecov.io/gh/iustin/pylibacl)
 [![Read the Docs](https://img.shields.io/readthedocs/pylibacl)](http://pylibacl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/?badge=latest)
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ or:
 
 ## Security
 
-For reporting security vulnerabilities, please see SECURITY.md.
+For reporting security vulnerabilities, please see `SECURITY.md`.
 
 ## License
 

doc/contributing.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../CONTRIBUTING.md

doc/index.rst

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ Contents
    :maxdepth: 2
 
    readme.md
+   contributing.md
    security.md
    module.rst
    implementation.rst