GMOD Membership

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This page describes how users, developers, and software become a part of GMOD.

Users

To become a GMOD user, just download and install one or more GMOD Components. That's it. There is no mandatory registration process, and you don't have to meet any set of requirements. GMOD is open to everyone.

You are encouraged to sign up to the (low-volume) GMOD Announce mailing list, and to the mailing list(s) for the components that you use. You can also subscribe to the GMOD News RSS feed. These will help keep you up to date on both the project and the components you use.

Developers

Developers are users who also contribute code back to the project. In the early days of GMOD every user was also a developer. This is no longer true, but every user can still become a developer.

There are several ways to become a developer:

• You can write fixes or additions to GMOD Components that you already use, and then send the code (or a link to it) to the [[GMOD Mailing Lists|mailing list(s)] for that component. If the update is widely usefule, the lead developer(s) for the component will then fold it in to the component and your fix will be included in the next release.
• You can become a developer with commit privileges and directly submit your updates to the source code repository for that component. This is a good option if you contribute code frequently. To get commit privileges you need to ask one of the developers already working on the component.
• Finally, you can become a developer by contributing a new component to GMOD. See Software below for how to do that.

Developers are also encouraged to sign up for the GMOD Developer mailing list (and maybe GMOD Architecture as well).

Software

New software components become a part of GMOD through a nomination and evaluation process. Software can be nominated by its developers, by GMOD users, or by GMOD staff. Sometimes new components arise from within the community. Schema, DIYA, and MAKER are all recent examples of software becoming a part of GMOD.

Requirements

To become a part of the GMOD suite, software has to meet several requirements:

Meets a Common Need

First, the program must meet a common need in biological research. A tool that is only useful with organisms that are two-dimensional (think butterfly wings), is probably not a good match for GMOD. Tools must be useful across a wide range of biology, and meet a widespread need. Tools that support next generation sequencing, Expression|gene expression, phenotypes, or comparative genomics are good examples of broadly applicable tools.

Useful Over a Period of Time

GMOD Components should be applicable and useful for at least several years. For example, GMOD tends to avoid analysis tools because this area of bioinformatics is constantly changing. However, the need to connect different analysis tools into reusable pipelines (see Ergatis and Galaxy for examples), is a common and longstanding need that will outlive any particular too.

Open Source License for All Users

New GMOD software must have an Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved license, and that license must be free to all users. The GMOD project is committed to open source principles.

Interoperable With Other GMOD Components

New GMOD software must be interoperable with other GMOD Components. Usually this means that the software can export and/or import GFF, or that it can connect to Chado.

Good Faith Commitment of Support

The developers of the software must be willing to make a good faith commitment to support the new component for at least 2 years after joining GMOD.