I'm sure this is an insanely stupid question, but I'm very curious about it. With so many different developers and programmers all over doing upgrades, patches, security fixes, etc... to Linux distributions, how do the changes stay organized? What determines what changes end up being incorporated into the next version of a distribution? If I have some changes to contribute, do I send them to somebody, and if so, to whom?

Thanks.

- D.J.R.

From the perspective of the software development side (members of the project actively changing code), a tool is usually used to perform the function of a traffic cop (of sorts). Collectively, those tools are referred to as revision control, and the most popular one available is probably CVS (Concurrent Versioning System - or something like that). It makes sure that if two or more people are working on the same set of files that neither of them erases the work done by the other.

As for submitting changes/tweaks you've made on your own... there is probably either a contact individual listed on the website or some formal instructions for submitting the changes. Yes, someone, somewhere, must make the decision to include or omit changes made by people outside the project. It might be one person, or many. It really depends on the project.

Ok - Thanks.

- D.J.R.