MOPAC is an open source project and, as such, contributions are welcome and appreciated. The standard, minimal legal stipulations apply: all contributions must be provided under the LGPL 3.0 license and all contributors must agree to the DCO by using their real name and a valid email address in their git commit statements.
Please create a GitHub Issue for bug reports and feature requests.
The preferred method of code contribution is to fork the project on GitHub, make your changes in a feature branch starting from the main branch, and then create a pull request. Contributions from outside of version control will be considered, but they are not preferred. MOPAC does not presently have strong stylistic or structural requirements, but contributions are encouraged to conform to the existing codebase as much as possible.
Open pull requests are also welcome, where a pull request is made before a contribution is ready to be merged, to open up an active dialogue between the core developers and the contributor about details of the contribution in development. This mode of operation is particularly useful when a pull request is linked with an issue articulating a problem that the pull request intends to solve.
While not a strict requirement, code contributions should pass all available tests, either as they are or with their reference outputs adjusted with an explanation for why they needed to be adjusted. Contributions may be delayed or rejected if they fail a test in a meaningful way that is not straightforward to correct.
Historically, major feature contributions to MOPAC were required to be preceded by a journal publication to maintain clear attribution. While this is no longer necessary for open-source software developed under automated version control, it is still encouraged.
Major feature contributions should include new tests that cover standard use cases of the new feature, and corresponding additions to the manual [https://openmopac.github.io], particularly if new keywords are introduced.
Many types of contributions are welcome:
- bug reports (preferably with a representative example)
- new tests
- new features
- performance improvements
- code quality improvements
- feature requests
Contributors to MOPAC are assumed to agree with the Linux Foundation's Developer Certificate of Origin <https://developercertificate.org/>:
Developer Certificate of Origin
Version 1.1
Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
1 Letterman Drive
Suite D4700
San Francisco, CA, 94129
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.
Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
(a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
have the right to submit it under the open source license
indicated in the file; or
(b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
license and I have the right under that license to submit that
work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
in the file; or
(c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
it.
(d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
this project or the open source license(s) involved.