contribution_process.md: Add contribution template

This patch adds a contribution template for an ideal first email that
proposes a description for a design document and ask for help and ask
about suitability for the Apertis project.

Signed-off-by: Peter Senna Tschudin <peter.senna@collabora.com>

content/policies/contribution_process.md

@@ -515,3 +515,121 @@ Apertis infrastructure, please send an email to
 - Your full name
 - The email address you prefer to be contacted through
 - The nickname/account name you wish to be known by on the Apertis GitLab
+
+# Contribution Template
+
+This section contains a contribution template that illustrates the ideal first
+email a developer would send for adding a design document to Apertis. This
+template for the first email contains the description of the design document
+instead of the design document itself. The idea is to promote involving the
+Apertis team as early as possible, and ideally before completing the work.
+
+The rationale for this approach is that it is very difficult for an external
+contributor to understand the impact a contribution can bring to Apertis, and
+by asking early, the work can be done in ways that are compatible with Apertis
+and welcome by the Apertis team.
+
+
+	From: Your name <your email>
+	To: devel@lists.apertis.org
+	Subject: Robot Framework design document
+
+	Hi,
+
+	I want to contribute to Apertis, and I am sending this email to ask if our
+	proposal can be added to Apertis. I am sending the email based on the
+	contribution template I found on the Apertis website, and we are looking
+	forward for receiving feedback from the Apertis team.
+
+	Thank you,
+
+	Your name
+
+	-- // --
+
+	1. Me and my team
+	I am a developer, I am specialized in embedded devices, and I work in a product
+	team that creates IoT devices with all sorts of environmental sensors and
+	actuators.
+	 
+	 
+	2. What is the goal of my proposal
+	My proposal is for a design document that describes tools and workflows for
+	process automation using the Robot Framework. The Robot Framework is a generic
+	open source automation framework that can be used for automation of tests and
+	processes.
+
+	- From our perspective this adds value to the Apertis Universe. Do you agree?
+	 
+	 
+	2. State-of-the-art
+	We prefer the Robot Framework because it is mature, it is simple to use, and
+	because it has an active development community.
+	 
+	While there are other automation frameworks available, they tend to be purpose
+	specific. Examples of purpose specific automation frameworks that we considered
+	include Selenium and JUnit.
+	 
+	3. How does our contribution works?
+	The Robot framework has a layered architecture. The top layer is the simple,
+	powerful, and extensible keyword-driven descriptive language for testing and
+	automation. This language resembles a natural language, is quick to develop, is
+	easy to reuse, and is easy to extend. On the bottom layer of the architecture is
+	the item to be tested, or the process to be automated.
+	 
+	The middle layer is what makes the Robot Framework extensible: libraries. A
+	library, in Robot Framework terminology, extends the Robot Framework language
+	with new keywords, and provides the implementation for these new keywords. Each
+	Robot Framework library acts as glue between the high level language and low
+	level details of the item being tested, or of the environment in which the item
+	to be tested is present.
+	 
+	 
+	4. Potential impact on Apertis?
+	We are aware there the architecture of the Robot Framework is different from the
+	Archutecture of LAVA. In some cases the Robot Framework accepts human
+	intervention with tests while LAVA expects everything to be automated. While we do
+	not fully understand to which extent this will impact Apertis, we expect that for our
+	design proposal will need to adapt to Apertis and LAVA constraints. Can you help us
+	here?
+	 
+	5. Benefits for Apertis?
+	The Robot Framework project is active for many years and is used for a variety
+	of use cases. We expect that adding the Robot Framework to the Apertis Universe
+	will bring Robot Framework users to Apertis.
+	 
+	 
+	6. What is the license of the main components?
+	The Robot Framework itself is licensed under the Apache License 2.0, however
+	Robot Framework libraries can use different licenses.
+
+	 
+	7. The plan to integrate the design into Apertis
+	Our understanding is that Apertis currently uses LAVA for testing, and that
+	images being tested are as close to production images as possible (almost no
+	testing instrumentation included). We propose to develop and/or modify a few
+	Robot Framework libraries, and to create a run-time compatibility layer for LAVA.
+	We expect that the combination of custom libraries with the run-time compatibility
+	layer for LAVA will enable us to keep testing environments as close as possible
+	to production environments, and to adapt the execution of Robot Framework tests
+	to suit the Apertis and LAVA constraints.
+	 
+
+	8. Estimated work to implement the design
+	Our ballpark estimation to add or modify Robot Framework libraries and to create
+	the run-time compatibility layer for LAVA is of approximatedly 1500 hours of
+	work. But we need your help to fully understand the impact on the Apertis side.
+
+
+	9. High level implementation plan
+	While we understand our use case and requirements, we would like to receive
+	feedback from other potential users as soon as possible. Our idea is to deploy
+	the Robot Framework in stages to allow early involvement of other users:
+
+	- Add Robot Framework to the Apertis SDK to enable developers to use the Robot
+	Framework locally
+
+	- Robot Framework Integration development: Adapt libraries and create the run-time
+	compatibility layer for LAVA
+
+	- Deployment on the Apertis infrastructure