Combines all contributing info in one place. Clean-up. (#4266)

docs/source/contributing-flow-state-machines.rst

@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
    <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/jquery.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/codesets.js"></script>
 
-How to extend the state machine
-===============================
+Extending the state machine
+===========================
 
 This article explains how to extend the state machine code that underlies flow execution. It is intended for Corda
 contributors.

docs/source/contributing-philosophy.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+Contributing philosophy
+=======================
+
+.. contents::
+
+Mission
+-------
+Corda is an open source project with the aim of developing an enterprise-grade distributed ledger platform for business across a variety of
+industries.  Corda was designed and developed to apply the concepts of blockchain and smart contract technologies to the requirements of
+modern business transactions.  It is unique in its aim to build a platform for businesses to transact freely with any counter-party while
+retaining strict privacy. Corda provides an implementation of this vision in a code base which others are free to build on, contribute to
+or innovate around. The mission of Corda is further detailed in the `Corda introductory white paper`_.
+
+The project is supported and maintained by the `R3 Alliance <https://www.r3.com>`_, or R3 for short, which consists of over two hundred firms
+working together to build and maintain this open source enterprise-grade blockchain platform.
+
+Community Locations
+-------------------
+The Corda maintainers, developers and extended community make active use of the following channels:
+
+* The `Corda Slack team <http://slack.corda.net/>`_ for general community discussion, and in particular:
+
+    * The ``#contributing`` channel for discussions around contributing
+    * The ``#design`` channel for discussions around the platform's design
+
+* The `corda-dev mailing list <https://groups.io/g/corda-dev>`_ for discussion regarding Corda's design and roadmap
+* The `GitHub issues board <https://github.com/corda/corda/issues>`_ for reporting platform bugs and potential enhancements
+* The `Stack Overflow corda tag <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/corda>`_ for specific technical questions
+
+Project Leadership and Maintainers
+----------------------------------
+The leader of this project is currently `Mike Hearn <https://github.com/mikehearn>`_, who is also the Lead Platform Engineer at R3. The
+project leader appoints the project's Community Maintainers, who are responsible for merging community contributions into the code base and
+acting as points of contact.
+
+In addition to the project leader and community maintainer(s), developers employed by R3 who have passed our technical interview process
+have commit privileges to the repo. All R3 contributions undergo peer review, which is documented in public in GitHub, before they can be
+merged; they are held to the same standard as all other contributions. The community is encouraged both to observe and participate in this
+`review process <https://github.com/corda/corda/pulls>`_.
+
+.. _community-maintainers:
+
+Community maintainers
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Current community maintainers:
+
+* `Joel Dudley <https://github.com/joeldudleyr3>`_ - Contact via the `Corda Slack team <http://slack.corda.net/>`_, either in the
+  ``#community`` channel or via direct message using the handle ``@joel``
+
+We anticipate additional maintainers joining the project in the future from across the community.
+
+Existing Contributors
+---------------------
+Over two hundred individuals have contributed to the development of Corda. You can find a full list of contributors in the
+`CONTRIBUTORS.md list <https://github.com/corda/corda/blob/master/CONTRIBUTORS.md>`_.
+
+Transparency and Conflict Policy
+--------------------------------
+The project is supported and maintained by the `R3 Alliance <https://www.r3.com>`_, which consists of over two hundred firms working together
+to build and maintain this open source enterprise-grade blockchain platform. We develop in the open and publish our
+`Jira <https://r3-cev.atlassian.net/projects/CORDA/summary>`_ to give everyone visibility. R3 also maintains and distributes a commercial
+distribution of Corda. Our vision is that distributions of Corda be compatible and interoperable, and our contribution and code review
+guidelines are designed in part to enable this.
+
+As the R3 Alliance is maintainer of the project and also develops a commercial distribution of Corda, what happens if a member of the
+community contributes a feature which the R3 team have implemented only in their commercial product? How is this apparent conflict managed?
+Our approach is simple: if the contribution meets the standards for the project (see above), then the existence of a competing commercial
+implementation will not be used as a reason to reject it. In other words, it is our policy that should a community feature be contributed
+which meets the criteria above, we will accept it or work with the contributor to merge/reconcile it with the commercial feature.
+
+.. _`Corda introductory white paper`: _static/corda-platform-whitepaper.pdf