docs: adding a contributing.md file

Author: jagalindo

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,148 +1,102 @@
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-# Contributing to Flama
+# Contributing to Flamapy
 
-First off, thanks for taking the time to contribute! ❤️
+Thank you for your interest in contributing to Flamapy! We welcome contributions from both individuals and organisations.
 
-All types of contributions are encouraged and valued. See the [Table of Contents](#table-of-contents) for different ways to help and details about how this project handles them. Please make sure to read the relevant section before making your contribution. It will make it a lot easier for us maintainers and smooth out the experience for all involved. The community looks forward to your contributions. 🎉
+Flamapy is a modular framework, and contributions are essential to its development and long-term sustainability. This document describes the contribution process, release policy, licensing model, and plugin ecosystem guidelines.
 
-> And if you like the project, but just don't have time to contribute, that's fine. There are other easy ways to support the project and show your appreciation, which we would also be very happy about:
-> - Star the project
-> - Tweet about it
-> - Refer this project in your project's readme
-> - Mention the project at local meetups and tell your friends/colleagues
+---
 
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-## Table of Contents
+## Contribution workflow
 
-- [I Have a Question](#i-have-a-question)
-- [I Want To Contribute](#i-want-to-contribute)
-- [Reporting Bugs](#reporting-bugs)
-- [Suggesting Enhancements](#suggesting-enhancements)
-- [Contributing code](#contributing-code)
-- [Styleguides](#styleguides)
-- [Commit Messages](#commit-messages)
-- [Join The Project Team](#join-the-project-team)
+### Branching model
+Flamapy follows a lightweight Gitflow-inspired model:
 
+- **`main`** — stable production-ready releases
+- **`develop`** — latest development state where contributions are integrated
 
+### Pull Request process
+1. Fork the repository and create a branch based on **`develop`**
+2. Implement changes, including tests and documentation updates as needed
+3. Submit a Pull Request (PR) to **`develop`**
+4. Describe clearly:
+   - Expected behaviour
+   - Design decisions
+   - Breaking changes (if any)
+5. PRs must be reviewed and approved by Flamapy maintainers
+6. Once stable, the `develop` branch will be merged into `main` during a release cycle
 
-## I Have a Question
+---
 
-> If you want to ask a question, we assume that you have read the available [Documentation](https://flamapy.github.io/).
+## Release policy
+Flamapy follows **Semantic Versioning** for stable releases.  
+To ensure reliability and consistency:
 
-Before you ask a question, it is best to search for existing [Issues](https://github.com/flamapy/core/issues) that might help you. In case you have found a suitable issue and still need clarification, you can write your question in this issue. It is also advisable to search the internet for answers first.
+- **Up to two major/minor stable releases per year**
+- Patch releases will only include critical bug fixes
 
-If you then still feel the need to ask a question and need clarification, we recommend the following:
+Release announcements will be shared via the website, GitHub, and mailing channels.
 
-- Open an [Issue](https://github.com/flamapy/core/issues/new).
-- Provide as much context as you can about what you're running into.
-- Provide project and platform versions (nodejs, npm, etc), depending on what seems relevant.
+---
 
-We will then take care of the issue as soon as possible.
+## Types of contributions
+- Bug fixes 🐛
+- New features ✨
+- New metamodels or plugins 🔌
+- Documentation improvements 📚
+- Refactoring and performance improvements ⚙️
 
-## I Want To Contribute
+For major contributions, please first open an **Issue** describing the motivation, design, and scope, so we can align expectations before implementation.
 
-> ### Legal Notice <!-- omit in toc -->
-> When contributing to this project, you must agree that you have authored 100% of the content, that you have the necessary rights to the content and that the content you contribute may be provided under the project license.
+---
 
-### Reporting Bugs
+## Plugin ecosystem and licensing
+Flamapy supports an open plugin ecosystem. There are two categories of plugins:
 
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-#### Before Submitting a Bug Report
+### 🔌 Plugins hosted inside the Flamapy GitHub organisation
+- Must adopt the **LGPL-3.0** license
+- Integrated in the official roadmap and releases
+- Reviewed and maintained jointly by the core team
 
-A good bug report shouldn't leave others needing to chase you up for more information. Therefore, we ask you to investigate carefully, collect information and describe the issue in detail in your report. Please complete the following steps in advance to help us fix any potential bug as fast as possible.
+### 🔌 External plugins (hosted outside the organisation)
+- May use **any license chosen by the authors**
+- Fully compatible with Flamapy architecture
+- Can be promoted to the community
 
-- Make sure that you are using the latest version.
-- Determine if your bug is really a bug and not an error on your side e.g. using incompatible environment components/versions (Make sure that you have read the [documentation](https://flamapy.github.io/). If you are looking for support, you might want to check [this section](#i-have-a-question)).
-- To see if other users have experienced (and potentially already solved) the same issue you are having, check if there is not already a bug report existing for your bug or error in the [bug tracker](https://github.com/flamapy/coreissues?q=label%3Abug).
-- Also make sure to search the internet (including Stack Overflow) to see if users outside of the GitHub community have discussed the issue.
-- Collect information about the bug:
-- Stack trace (Traceback)
-- OS, Platform and Version (Windows, Linux, macOS, x86, ARM)
-- Version of the interpreter, compiler, SDK, runtime environment, package manager, depending on what seems relevant.
-- Possibly your input and the output
-- Can you reliably reproduce the issue? And can you also reproduce it with older versions?
+If you maintain an external plugin and would like visibility (listing on the webpage, documentation, or community releases), please contact:
 
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-#### How Do I Submit a Good Bug Report?
+📧 **flamapy@us.es**
 
-> You must never report security related issues, vulnerabilities or bugs including sensitive information to the issue tracker, or elsewhere in public. Instead sensitive bugs must be sent by email to .
-<!-- You may add a PGP key to allow the messages to be sent encrypted as well. -->
+---
 
-We use GitHub issues to track bugs and errors. If you run into an issue with the project:
+## Licensing model
+Flamapy is distributed under the **GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 (LGPL-3.0)**.
 
-- Open an [Issue](https://github.com/flamapy/core/issues/new). (Since we can't be sure at this point whether it is a bug or not, we ask you not to talk about a bug yet and not to label the issue.)
-- Explain the behavior you would expect and the actual behavior.
-- Please provide as much context as possible and describe the *reproduction steps* that someone else can follow to recreate the issue on their own. This usually includes your code. For good bug reports you should isolate the problem and create a reduced test case.
-- Provide the information you collected in the previous section.
+By submitting a Pull Request, you agree to the **implicit contribution agreement**:
+- You retain copyright to your contribution
+- You grant Flamapy users rights to use, modify and redistribute it under LGPL-3.0
 
-Once it's filed:
+Organisations requiring a **Contributor License Agreement (CLA)** can contact the maintainers. If not, it will be defaulting to implicit contribution agreement. 
 
-- The project team will label the issue accordingly.
-- A team member will try to reproduce the issue with your provided steps. If there are no reproduction steps or no obvious way to reproduce the issue, the team will ask you for those steps and mark the issue as `needs-repro`. Bugs with the `needs-repro` tag will not be addressed until they are reproduced.
-- If the team is able to reproduce the issue, it will be marked `needs-fix`, as well as possibly other tags (such as `critical`), and the issue will be left to be [implemented by someone](#your-first-code-contribution).
+---
 
-<!-- You might want to create an issue template for bugs and errors that can be used as a guide and that defines the structure of the information to be included. If you do so, reference it here in the description. -->
+## Code quality guidelines
+- Follow existing code style and architecture
+- Provide unit tests when applicable
+- Explain design decisions in PR description
+- Avoid introducing breaking changes without prior discussion
+- Document new functionality
 
+---
 
-### Suggesting Enhancements
+## Governance
+- Core maintainers review and approve contributions
+- Major design decisions are taken publicly via Issues and PR discussions
+- Roadmap is driven by community needs and research/industry applications
+- All new contributors teams are welcome to the core team
 
-This section guides you through submitting an enhancement suggestion for Flama, **including completely new features and minor improvements to existing functionality**. Following these guidelines will help maintainers and the community to understand your suggestion and find related suggestions.
+---
 
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-#### Before Submitting an Enhancement
+Thank you again for supporting Flamapy.  
+Together we build an open, extensible, and high-quality ecosystem for automated feature-model analysis!
 
-- Make sure that you are using the latest version.
-- Read the [documentation](https://flamapy.github.io/) carefully and find out if the functionality is already covered, maybe by an individual configuration.
-- Perform a [search](https://github.com/flamapy/core/issues) to see if the enhancement has already been suggested. If it has, add a comment to the existing issue instead of opening a new one.
-- Find out whether your idea fits with the scope and aims of the project. It's up to you to make a strong case to convince the project's developers of the merits of this feature. Keep in mind that we want features that will be useful to the majority of our users and not just a small subset. If you're just targeting a minority of users, consider writing an add-on/plugin library.
 
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-#### How Do I Submit a Good Enhancement Suggestion?
-
-Enhancement suggestions are tracked as [GitHub issues](https://github.com/flamapy/core/issues).
-
-- Use a **clear and descriptive title** for the issue to identify the suggestion.
-- Provide a **step-by-step description of the suggested enhancement** in as many details as possible.
-- **Describe the current behavior** and **explain which behavior you expected to see instead** and why. At this point you can also tell which alternatives do not work for you.
-- **Explain why this enhancement would be useful** to most Flama users. You may also want to point out the other projects that solved it better and which could serve as inspiration.
-
-### Contributing code
-
-Make sure that you follow the tutorial available in the [website](https://flamapy.github.io/) beforehand to prepare your first commit.
-
-#### Are you already part of the community? 
-As a main contributor within our community, such as those affiliated with universities involved in Flama's development, you are entrusted with the ability to commit directly to the development branch. This comes with the critical responsibility of ensuring that every commit maintains our code quality standards. It is essential that you run both mypy and prospector successfully before finalizing each commit, upholding the integrity and reliability of our codebase.
-
-For contributors who are not part of this core group, we have a slightly different process. We ask you to kindly fork the repository and submit your contributions via a pull request to the develop branch. This approach allows us to maintain a structured and collaborative workflow, ensuring each contribution is thoroughly reviewed and seamlessly integrated. By following these guidelines, you help us sustain the quality and consistency of Flama, making it a robust and reliable tool for all users.
-
-## Styleguides
-
-### Code Quality and Standards
-
-In our commitment to maintain high-quality code, we enforce strict adherence to code standards and quality checks. Two key tools in our workflow are `mypy` and `prospector`. They play a crucial role in ensuring the reliability and maintainability of our code. Here's what you need to know:
-
-- **mypy**: We use `mypy` for static type checking. It helps catch type errors and inconsistencies in our Python code. Before submitting your code, ensure that it passes all `mypy` checks without errors.
-- **prospector**: `prospector` is a comprehensive linting tool we use to identify potential coding issues. It covers code style, best practices, and potential errors. Your code should adhere to the guidelines identified by `prospector` and should pass all its checks.
-  
-To streamline your development process, we recommend setting up both `mypy` and `prospector` in your local development environment. This allows you to catch and address issues early, reducing the likelihood of failed checks during the pull request process. 
-
-By following these standards, you contribute not only functional code but also code that aligns with our quality and stylistic expectations. This practice helps us maintain a clean, efficient, and robust codebase for Flama.
-
-### Commit Messages
-
-At Flama, we adhere to the principles of [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) for our commit messages. This standardized format streamlines our commit history and simplifies the process of generating release notes. When writing your commit messages, please follow these guidelines:
-
-- **Structure**: Each commit message should consist of a header, body, and footer. The header has a special format that includes the type, scope, and subject.
-- **Types**: Use types like `feat` (new feature), `fix` (bug fix), `docs` (changes in documentation), `style` (formatting, missing semi colons, etc.), `refactor` (code change that neither fixes a bug nor adds a feature), `test` (adding missing tests), and `chore` (maintenance tasks).
-- **Scope**: The scope should be the specific feature or area of the code affected by the change.
-- **Descriptive Subject**: The subject contains a succinct description of the change. Use the imperative, present tense: "change" not "changed" nor "changes".
-- **Body and Footer**: The body should include the motivation for the change and contrast it with previous behavior. The footer should reference any relevant issues or pull requests.
-
-Adhering to the Conventional Commits format helps ensure our commit history is readable and navigable. This practice is not just for maintainers but for anyone who contributes to Flama. By following these standards, you help us keep our project organized and our community aligned.
-
-## Join The Project Team
-Feel free to show interest by emailing us at flamapy@us.es or joinign our [telegram group](https://t.me/+ACFjaVH2ynUxNTZk). 
-
-<!-- omit in toc -->
-## Attribution
-This guide is based on the **contributing-gen**. [Make your own](https://github.com/bttger/contributing-gen)!