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Assets Policy

This document defines how we source, store, license, and maintain non-code assets for this repository. The goal is to keep assets minimal, traceable, and safe for redistribution in a small, single-developer project.

Scope

  • In scope: icons, screenshots, sample dialog images, mock data files, and any third-party binaries or media required by the proof-of-concept app.
  • Out of scope: system-provided GTK/GNOME themes, fonts, or icons that are not redistributed with this repository.
  • Architecture and planning details live in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Principles

  • Prefer generating assets ourselves or using permissive licenses.
  • Keep assets small and versioned in-repo only when necessary.
  • Always document the source, license, and modifications.
  • Avoid bundling system resources that are expected to exist on user machines.

Repository Layout

  • assets/ for source assets (editable originals).
  • assets/export/ for derived assets (rendered or exported formats).
  • assets/README.md for per-asset metadata (source, license, author, date).
  • docs/screenshots/ for documentation images used in README or releases.

Licensing and Attribution

  • Only include assets with licenses compatible with redistribution.
  • Align asset licensing with GNUstep and GNOME where possible; document any deviations.
  • Preferred asset licenses: LGPL-2.1-or-later, LGPL-3.0-or-later, CC0-1.0, CC-BY-4.0, CC-BY-SA-4.0.
  • Rationale: LGPL keeps the library linkable by proprietary apps while requiring modifications to the library itself to remain open.
  • Each asset must have:
    • Source URL or origin description.
    • License identifier and full text if required.
    • Author/creator and modification notes.
  • If attribution is required, record it in assets/README.md and mention it in README.md.

Creation and Modification

  • Prefer ASCII filenames with kebab-case.
  • Do not edit exported files directly; update the source and re-export.
  • Keep editable source formats (e.g., SVG, XCF) in assets/.
  • Maintain deterministic export steps (documented in assets/README.md).

Proof-of-Concept App Assets

  • Keep proof-of-concept assets minimal and focused on testing functionality.
  • Use generic, non-branded icons.
  • Keep screenshots for documentation in docs/screenshots/.
  • If sample files are required for dialog testing, keep them small and clearly named (e.g., sample-text.txt, sample-image.png).

Third-Party Assets and Binaries

  • Avoid committing third-party binaries unless strictly necessary.
  • If required, document checksum and provenance.
  • Prefer build-time or system-provided dependencies over vendored assets.

Review Checklist

  • Source and license documented?
  • Redistributable and compatible with project license?
  • File size reasonable?
  • Stored in correct directory?

Updates

  • Update this policy when project scope or distribution model changes.

Development Process

  • Before asking for manual app runs, build the app and run the full test suite to ensure all tests are green.
  • When the app is run manually, stdout and stderr will be captured to ./debug.log via a pipe to tee for later review.
  • Track unresolved issues in OpenIssues.md.