updates to contributing.md for support, legal, versioning (AcademySof…

…twareFoundation#1721)

Signed-off-by: Stephen Mackenzie <maxnbk@users.noreply.github.com>

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -1,9 +1,61 @@
 # Contributing To Rez
 
+Thank you for your interest in contributing to rez.
+This document explains our contribution process and procedures, so please review it first:
+
+* [Get Connected](#Get-Connected)
+* [Guidelines](#Guidelines)
+* [Development Environment](#Development-Environment)
+* [Legal Requirements](#Legal-Requirements)
+* [Reporting Bugs](#Reporting-Bugs)
+* [Versioning Policy](#Versioning-Policy)
+
+For a description of the roles and responsibilities of the various members of the rez community, see [GOVERNANCE](GOVERNANCE.md), and
+for further details, see the project's
+[Technical Charter](https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/foundation/blob/main/project_charters/rez-charter.pdf). Briefly, Contributors are anyone
+who submits content to the project, Committers review and approve such
+submissions, and the Technical Steering Committee provides general project
+oversight and maintainership.
+
+## Get Connected
+
+The first thing to do, before anything else, is talk to us! Whether you're
+reporting an issue, requesting or implementing a feature, or just asking a
+question; please don’t hesitate to reach out to project maintainers or the
+community as a whole. This is an important first step because your issue,
+feature, or the question may have been solved or discussed already, and you’ll
+save yourself a lot of time by asking first.
+
+How do you talk to us? There are several ways to get in touch:
+
+* [Slack](https://slack.aswf.io):
+Join the ``#rez`` channel. This channel is where the majority of rez-centric
+discussion takes place, where announcements are made, where users help each
+other, and other relevant community information is released.
+
+There are a number of other helpful channels as well, depending on your
+tolerance for high-frequency information, such as:
+``#rez-gh-releases``, ``#rez-gh-prs``, and ``#rez-gh-issues``.
+
+* [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/rez/discussions):
+GitHub **discussions** are a great place to start a conversation! It's an
+excellent place to ask both the rez maintainers as well as the general community
+any questions, as well as to act as a place to facilitate complex topics such as
+those related to development, rez future feature-set, or future goals of the
+project!
+
+* [rez-discussion mailing list](https://lists.aswf.io/g/rez-discussion/):
+This is a general-purpose mailing list for discussion of rez, its features,
+behavior, configuration, usage patterns, and sometimes a channel for information
+regarding major releases. Put simply, a slower version of our Slack channel.
+
+* [The monthly TSC meeting](https://www.aswf.io/meeting-calendar/):
+Check the calendar for our monthly TSC meeting. Reminders often posted in Slack.
+
 ## Guidelines
 
-If you would like to contribute code you can do so through GitHub by forking the repository and
-sending a pull request. Please follow these guidelines:
+If you would like to contribute code you can do so through GitHub by forking the
+repository and sending a pull request. Please follow these guidelines:
 
 1.  Always retain backwards compatibility, unless a breaking change is necessary. If it is
     necessary, the associated release notes must make this explicit and obvious;
@@ -62,13 +114,41 @@ packages for improved test output: `pytest` and `parameterized`. You can install
 1. Set up your development environment as shown above.
 2. Run `rez selftest`.
 
-## CLA
+## Legal Requirements
+
+rez is a project hosted by the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) and
+follows the open source software best practice policies of the ASWF TAC with the
+guidance from the Linux Foundation.
+
+### License
+
+rez is licensed under the [Apache 2.0 License](LICENSE). Contributions to rez
+should abide by that license.
+
+### Contributor License Agreements
+
+Developers who wish to contribute code to be considered for inclusion
+in rez must first complete a **Contributor License Agreement
+(CLA)**.
+
+rez uses [EasyCLA](https://lfx.linuxfoundation.org/tools/easycla) for managing CLAs, which
+automatically checks to ensure CLAs are signed by a contributor before a commit
+can be merged.
+
+* If you are an individual writing the code on your own time and
+  you're SURE you are the sole owner of any intellectual property you
+  contribute, you can
+  [sign the CLA as an individual contributor](https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/lfx/easycla/contributors/individual-contributor).
 
-Rez enforces use of a Contributor License Agreement as per ASWF guidelines. You need only sign up to the EasyCLA system once, but until you do, your PRs will be automatically blocked.
+* If you are writing the code as part of your job, or if there is any
+  possibility that your employers might think they own any
+  intellectual property you create, then you should use the 
+  [Corporate Contributor Licence Agreement](https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/lfx/easycla/contributors/corporate-contributor).
 
-For more info see https://easycla.lfx.linuxfoundation.org/#/
+The rez CLA's are the standard forms used by Linux Foundation projects and
+[recommended by the ASWF TAC](https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/tac/blob/main/process/contributing.md#contributor-license-agreement-cla).
 
-## DCO
+### DCO Commit Sign-Off
 
 Rez enforces Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) on all commits, as per ASWF guidelines. PRs are automatically blocked until all commits within the PR are signed off.
 
@@ -84,6 +164,15 @@ to `.gitignore`):
 For more info see https://github.blog/changelog/2022-06-08-admins-can-require-sign-off-on-web-based-commits/
 for web-based commits, and https://probot.github.io/apps/dco/ for all others.
 
+### Copyright Notices
+
+All new source files should begin with a copyright and license stating:
+
+```
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# Copyright Contributors to the Rez Project
+```
+
 ## Reporting Bugs
 
 If you report a bug, please ensure to specify the following:
@@ -92,3 +181,12 @@ If you report a bug, please ensure to specify the following:
 2.  Platform and operating system you were using;
 3.  Contextual information (what were you trying to do using Rez);
 4.  Simplest possible steps to reproduce.
+
+## Versioning Policy
+
+rez releases observe the [semver 2.0.0](https://semver.org/) version numbering standard.
+Briefly:
+
+* **MAJOR** version when you make incompatible API changes
+* **MINOR** version when you add functionality in a backward compatible manner
+* **PATCH** version when you make backward compatible bug fixes