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+
+How to contribute to the development of Ikarus Scheme.
+(Abdulaziz Ghuloum) 
+
+Ikarus Scheme is a Free Software, licensed under the GNU General
+Public License (GPLv3).  
+
+From the GNU web site:
+
+  Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy,
+  distribute, study, change and improve the software. More
+  precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of
+  the software:
+  
+  - The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).  
+  
+  - The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your
+    needs (freedom 1). 
+  
+  - Access to the source code is a precondition for this.  The
+    freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
+    (freedom 2).
+  
+  - The freedom to improve the program, and release your
+    improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits
+    (freedom 3).
+  
+  Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
+
+
+There are many ways in which you can contribute to the development
+of Ikarus.  The most important way is submitting bug reports.  When
+you submit a bug report, try to follow these guidelines:
+  
+- Make the title short and descriptive.
+
+- Describe the problem by including a simple program that exhibits
+  the bug, the error that was observed, and the expected "correct"
+  output.  
+
+- If you're working on a development version of Ikarus, include the
+  version of Ikarus that exhibited the bug.  This is as simple as
+  printing the banner that you get when you run Ikarus.
+
+- Expect to receive followup questions from the developers or
+  status updates from the launchpad bug tracker.
+
+- Do not hesitate on reporting anything.  Even a simple typo or a
+  suggestion for improving an error message qualifies as a bug.  The
+  bug tracker is essentially a way for you to suggest things to be
+  put in our to-do list.
+
+- In general, do not send patches.  Reporting the problem is the
+  best way to help.  You can submit a small diff that shows which
+  lines you think should fix the problem.  At this point, we reserve
+  our right to not apply any submitted patches and to maintain
+  complete ownership of the software.  This allows us to relicense
+  the software at later time without having to seek permission from
+  every person who submitted a patch.  It's not feasible for us to
+  collect legal copyright waiver forms from all potential
+  contributers.
+
+