-@node Library vs. Reusable Code
+@node Benefits
+@section Benefits of using Gnulib
+
+Gnulib is useful to enhance various aspects of a package:
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+Portability: With Gnulib, a package maintainer can program against the
+POSIX and GNU libc APIs and nevertheless expect good portability to
+platforms that don't implement POSIX.
+
+@item
+Maintainability: When a package uses modules from Gnulib instead of code
+written specifically for that package, the maintainer has less code to
+maintain.
+
+@item
+Security: Gnulib provides functions that are immune against vulnerabilities
+that plague the uses of the corresponding commonplace functions. For
+example, @code{asprintf}, @code{canonicalize_file_name} are not affected
+by buffer sizing problems that affect @code{sprintf}, @code{realpath}.
+@code{openat} does not have the race conditions that @code{open} has. Etc.
+
+@item
+Reliability: Gnulib provides functions that combine a call to a system
+function with a check of the result. Examples are @code{xalloc},
+@code{xprintf}, @code{xstrtod}, @code{xgetcwd}.
+
+@item
+Structure: Gnulib offers a way to structure code into modules, typically
+one include file, one source code file, and one autoconf macro for each
+functionality. Modularity helps maintainability.
+@end itemize
+
+@node Library vs Reusable Code
@section Library vs. Reusable Code
Classical libraries are installed as binary object code. Gnulib is
Similarly, Gnulib has a facility for executing a command in a
subprocess. It is at the same time a portability enhancement (it
works on GNU, Unix, and Windows, compared to the classical
-@code{fork()}/@code{exec()} which is not portable to Windows), as well
+@code{fork}/@code{exec} idiom which is not portable to Windows), as well
as an application aid: it takes care of redirecting stdin and/or
stdout if desired, and emits an error message if the subprocess
failed.
@subsection Interfaces to external libraries
Examples are the @samp{iconv} module, which interfaces to the
-@code{iconv()} facility, regardless whether it is contained in libc or in
+@code{iconv} facility, regardless whether it is contained in libc or in
an external @code{libiconv}. Or the @samp{readline} module, which
interfaces to the GNU readline library.
Documentation files are under this copyright:
@quotation
-Copyright @copyright{} 200X-200Y Free Software Foundation, Inc.@*
+Copyright @copyright{} 2004-200Y Free Software Foundation, Inc.@*
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
-under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
+under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
-Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
-Texts.
+Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A
+copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free
+Documentation License''.
@end quotation
@end table
If you want to use some Gnulib modules under LGPL, you can do so by
passing the option @samp{--lgpl} to @code{gnulib-tool}. This will
replace the GPL header with an LGPL header while copying the source
-files to your package.
+files to your package. Similarly, if you want some Gnulib modules
+under LGPLv2+ (Lesser GPL version 2.1 or newer), you can do so by
+passing the option @samp{--lgpl=2} to @code{gnulib-tool}.
Keep in mind that when you submit patches to files in Gnulib, you should
license them under a compatible license. This means that sometimes the
Gnulib modules are continually adapted, to match new practices, to be
consistent with newly added modules, or simply as a response to build
-failure reports. We don't make releases, but instead recommend to use the
-newest version of Gnulib from the Git repository, except in periods of major
-changes. The source tree can also be fetched from a read-only CVS that
-mirrors the Git repository.
+failure reports. Gnulib is available in two qualities:
+
+@itemize
+@item
+There is the newest version of Gnulib from the Git repository. The
+source tree can also be fetched from a read-only CVS that mirrors the Git
+repository.
+
+@item
+We also make stable releases every two months, at
+@url{http://erislabs.net/ianb/projects/gnulib/}.
+@end itemize
+
+If you are willing to report an occasional regression, we recommend to
+use the newest version always, except in periods of major changes. Most
+Gnulib users do this. If you prefer stable releases, please use the
+newest stable release.
@node Openness
@section Openness
projects / gnulib.git / blobdiff