[Biopython-dev] code credits

[Marshall Hampton]

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009, Peter wrote:
> Marshall Hampton's description of how they do it on Sage
> sounds worth trying - if we keep track as things are checked
> in, it won't be too much work either. Do you (sage) have a
> list of guidelines for what qualifies for a credit?

I don't think we have formal guidelines, but the process is pretty simple. 
Whoever works on a patch in our bug/feature tracker has to flag it for 
review.  Both the person who implements the patch and the reviewer get 
credit.  It doesn't matter if its a 1-character change to the 
documentation, they're listed in the release notes.  Basically, the idea 
is to err (if that's the right word) on the side of acknowledging any 
contribution.  I think that Sage (really William Stein initially) adopting 
that philosophy is one of the reasons its gone from 1 to 150 or so 
developers.

I'm cc'ing sage-devel in case anyone there wants to comment on this.

Cheers,

Marshall Hampton
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Minnesota, Duluth