Your First Contribution

Fork the repository

Go to the GitHub page of the MATE package you want to work on and click the Fork button. This creates your own copy of the repository under your GitHub account.

Clone your fork

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/<package-name>

Create a branch

Always work on a dedicated branch, not directly on master:

git checkout -b my-fix

Make and test your changes

Edit the source files, then build and install the package to verify your changes work. Use the debugging tools if something does not behave as expected.

Commit

git add modified-file.c
git commit -m "Short description of the change"

Write a commit message that explains what changed and why.

Push and open a pull request

git push origin my-fix

Go to your fork on GitHub. You will see a Compare & pull request banner — click it and submit the PR. A maintainer will review it and may ask for changes.