``Oce`` is an R package for processing oceanographic data.  Stable versions of
the package are normally installed from within R, with the code presented here
being intended for advanced users.  

The git branching model is used to organize the code. The ``master`` branch
holds the code used in the official releases, and is mainly provided to
document the history of those releases.  It is updated only when new versions
of Oce are updated to the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN), perhaps once
a month.  The ``develop`` branch may be updated several times per day, as the
author fixes bugs or adds features that are motivated by day-to-day usage.
This is the branch favoured by users who need new features or would like to
help the author in the development of Oce.

In addition to the ``master`` and ``develop`` branches, there is a ``testing``
branch that is sometimes used to try out variants of new features, and any
number of temporary branches that are used to address bugs or requests for new
features.  These bugs and requests are generally made through the GitHub issue
system, and so the branches are named after the issues, e.g. a branch named
``issue100`` would address the GitHub issue numbered 100.

Oce is emphatically an open-source system, and so the participation of users is
very important.  This is why Git is used for version control of the Oce source
code, and also why GitHub is the host for that code.  All users are invited to
take part in the development process, whether by suggesting features, reporting
bugs, or just watching as others do such things.  Oceanography is a highly
collaborative discipline, so it makes sense that the evolution of the Oce
package be similarly collaborative.

