DO NOT "FIX" CODE IN THIS DIRECTORY.
ONLY UPSTREAM VERSIONS OF SOFTWARE GO IN THIS DIRECTORY.
This directory is provided as a courtesy to our users who might be
unable or unwilling to find and install libraries we depend on.
If we "fix" software in this directory, we hamstring users who do the
right thing and keep a single version of upstream libraries in a
system-wide library. We introduce subtle and maddening bugs where
our code is "accidentally" using the "wrong" library version. We may
unwittingly interfere with other software that depends on the
canonical release versions of those same libraries!
Forking upstream software for trivial reasons makes us bad citizens in
the Open Source community and adds unnecessary heartache for our
users. Don't make us "that" project.
Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------
Q: What should we do when we find a bug in upstream software?
A: First and foremost, REPORT THE BUG, and if possible send in a patch.
Watch for a release of the upstream software and integrate with it
when it's released.
In the meantime, work around the bug, if at all possible. Usually,
it's quite possible, if slightly harder or less efficient.
Q: What if the bug can't be worked around?
A: If the upstream developers have accepted a bug patch, it's
undesirable but acceptable to apply that patch to the library in
the extlib dir. Ideally, use a release version for upstream or a
version control system snapshot.
Note that this is a last resort.
Q: What if upstream is unresponsive or won't accept a patch?
A: Try again.
Q: I tried again, and upstream is still unresponsive and nobody's
checked on my patch. Now what?
A: If the upstream project is moribund and there's a way to adopt it,
propose having the GNU social dev team adopt the project. Or, adopt
it yourself.
Q: What if there's no upstream authority and it can't be adopted?
A: Then we fork it. Make a new name and a new version. Include it in
lib/ instead of extlib/, and use the GNUsocial_* prefix to change
the namespace to avoid collisions.
This is a last resort; consult with the rest of the dev group
before taking this radical step.
List of external libraries
--------------------------
A number of external PHP libraries are used to provide basic
functionality and optional functionality for your system. For your
convenience, they are available in the "extlib" directory of this
package, and you do not have to download and install them. However,
you may want to keep them up-to-date with the latest upstream version,
and the URLs are listed here for your convenience.
- DB_DataObject http://pear.php.net/package/DB_DataObject
- Validate http://pear.php.net/package/Validate
- OpenID by Janrain, http://janrain.com/openid-enabled/
- PEAR DB. Although this is an older data access system (new
packages should use PDO), the OpenID libraries depend on PEAR DB
or MDB2.
- OAuth.php from http://oauth.googlecode.com/svn/code/php/
(has been edited to avoid colliding autoload)
- markdown.php from http://michelf.com/projects/php-markdown/
- PEAR Mail, for sending out mail notifications
http://pear.php.net/package/Mail
- PEAR Net_SMTP, if you use the SMTP factory for notifications
http://pear.php.net/package/Net_SMTP
- PEAR Net_Socket, if you use the SMTP factory for notifications
http://pear.php.net/package/Net_Socket
- XMPPHP, the follow-up to Class.Jabber.php. Probably the best XMPP
library available for PHP. http://xmpphp.googlecode.com/. Note that
as of this writing the version of this library that is available in
the extlib directory is *significantly different* from the upstream
version (patches have been submitted). Upgrading to the upstream
version may render your GNU social site unable to send or receive XMPP
messages.
- Facebook library. Used for the Facebook application.
- PEAR Validate is used for URL and email validation.
- Console_GetOpt for parsing command-line options.
- HTTP_Request2, a library for making HTTP requests.
- PEAR Net_URL2 is an HTTP_Request2 dependency.
- Michelf/Markdown.php Markdown parser library
- Mf2/Parser.php microformats2 parser library
A design goal of GNU Social is that the basic Web functionality should
work on even the most restrictive commercial hosting services.
However, additional functionality, such as receiving messages by XMPP,
require that you be able to run long-running processes on your account.
In addition, posting by email require that you be able to install a mail
filter in your mail server.
