[bug#53144] [PATCH 01/13] doc: Give some tips on Minetest packaging.

[Maxime Devos]

* doc/contributing.texi (Minetest Packages): New section.
* doc/guix.texi: Copyright update.
---
 doc/contributing.texi | 42 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 doc/guix.texi         |  2 +-
 2 files changed, 43 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/doc/contributing.texi b/doc/contributing.texi
index 72f5ce1e0e..5b91fc7867 100644
--- a/doc/contributing.texi
+++ b/doc/contributing.texi
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@ needed is to review and apply the patch.
 * Synopses and Descriptions::   Helping users find the right package.
 * Snippets versus Phases::      Whether to use a snippet, or a build phase.
 * Emacs Packages::              Your Elisp fix.
+* Minetest Packages::           Building blocks.
 * Python Modules::              A touch of British comedy.
 * Perl Modules::                Little pearls.
 * Java Packages::               Coffee break.
@@ -703,6 +704,47 @@ When encountering problems, it is wise to check for the 
presence of the
 file, and whether any dependencies and their versions listed therein are
 satisfied.
 
+@node Minetest Packages
+@subsection Minetest Packages
+@cindex minetest, packaging
+
+A Minetest mod @code{foo} is named @code{minetest-foo} -- the author
+name from ContentDB is not included, unless required to resolve a name
+collision.
+
+Sometimes, it might be unclear what the version of a Minetest mod is.
+For example, ContentDB and the importer reports 2020-01-01, but
+according to the forums the version is 2.1.  Usually, in these cases the
+version on ContentDB is the newest and intended for distribution. As
+such, you can use the version from ContentDB without any special
+comments.
+
+@c Currently it's always checked out from git, but in principle
+@c tarballs could be used.
+
+Even though the source code is often checked out from version control,
+it is not necessary to use @code{git-version} or @code{hg-version}: the
+releases on ContentDB are formal releases; in fact they are upstream's
+official source of Minetest packages and they are not mutated in-place.
+
+@c Example (zip): mods by TenPlus1
+@c Example (git): basic_materials, ethereal
+While ContentDB provides the source code of packages in zip form, it is
+recommended not to use these, because users can and do delete old
+versions.  Likewise, sometimes the maintainer initially did tag versions
+but later stops doing so, breaking @command{guix refresh -u}.  As such,
+it is recommended not to use git tags in @code{origin} records and
+instead refer to the commit directly.
+
+The dependency information from ContentDB is usually correct.  However,
+sometimes to actually use a Minetest mod, an additional non-declared
+Minetest mod is required.  For example, to craft an item from a mod
+@code{minetest-basic-materials} in non-creative mode, an item from the
+mod @code{minetest-moreores} is required.  In such situations, it is
+recommended to add @code{minetest-moreores} to the inputs of
+@code{minetest-basic-materials}.  The dependencies go into
+@code{propagated-inputs}.
+
 @node Python Modules
 @subsection Python Modules
 
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 08e5bfa111..0e19285c1c 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ Copyright @copyright{} 2020 Daniel Brooks@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2020 John Soo@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2020 Jonathan Brielmaier@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2020 Edgar Vincent@*
-Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Maxime Devos@*
+Copyright @copyright{} 2021, 2022 Maxime Devos@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2021 B. Wilson@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Xinglu Chen@*
 Copyright @copyright{} 2021 Raghav Gururajan@*

base-commit: 9fd4f4b09cc0495d6b1418f171ff738a1086cc00
-- 
2.34.0