@c For double-sided printing, uncomment:
@c @setchapternewpage odd
@c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
-@set lastupdate April 4, 2004
+@set lastupdate May 10, 2005
@c %**end of header
@dircategory GNU organization
Information for maintainers of GNU software, last updated @value{lastupdate}.
Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
-2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@quotation
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies
@cindex copyright papers
If you maintain an FSF-copyrighted package
-certain legal procedures when incorporating legally significant
+certain legal procedures are required when incorporating legally significant
changes written by other people. This ensures that the FSF has the
legal right to distribute the package, and the standing to defend its
GPL-covered status in court if necessary.
Once the conversation is under way and the contributor is ready for
more details, you should send one of the templates that are found in
-@file{/gd/gnuorg/Copyright}. This section explains which templates
-you should use in which circumstances. @strong{Please don't use any
-of the templates except for those listed here, and please don't change
-the wording.}
+the directory @file{/gd/gnuorg/Copyright/}. This section explains
+which templates you should use in which circumstances. @strong{Please
+don't use any of the templates except for those listed here, and
+please don't change the wording.}
Once the conversation is under way, you can send the contributor the
precise wording and instructions by email. Before you do this, make
papers to sign. The @file{request-} file also raises the issue of
getting a copyright disclaimer from the contributor's employer.
+When the contributor emails the form to the FSF, the FSF sends per
+papers to sign. If person signs them right away, the whole process
+takes about two weeks--mostly waiting for letters to go back and
+forth.
+
For less common cases, we have template files you should send to the
contributor. Be sure to fill in the name of the person and the name
of the program in these templates, where it says @samp{NAME OF PERSON}
@file{disclaim.changes.manual}; for larger ones, use
@file{assign.changes.manual}. To cover both past and future
changes to a manual, you can use @file{assign.future.manual}.
-For a translation of a manual, use @file{assign.translate.manual}.
+For a translation of a manual, use @file{assign.translation.manual}.
If a contributor is reluctant to sign an assignment for a large change,
and is willing to sign a disclaimer instead, that is acceptable, so you
of 1994, but doesn't require the inclusion of 1995.
Do not abbreviate the year list using a range; for instance, do not
-write @samp{1996--1998}; instead, write @samp{1996, 1997, 1998}.
+write @samp{1996--1998}; instead, write @samp{1996, 1997, 1998}. Do
+write each relevant year as a four-digit number. In the normal course
+of maintenance, you may come across copyright notices which omit the
+century, as in @samp{1996, 97, 98}---change these to include the
+century. However, there is no need to systematically change the
+notice in every old file.
The versions that matter, for purposes of this list, are versions that
were ancestors of the current version. So if you made a temporary
For an FSF-copyrighted package, if you have followed the procedures to
obtain legal papers, each file should have just one copyright holder:
-the Free Software Foundation, Inc. So the copyright notice should give
-that name.
+the Free Software Foundation, Inc. You should edit the file's
+copyright notice to list that name and only that name.
But if contributors are not all assigning their copyrights to a single
copyright holder, it can easily happen that one file has several
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with @var{program}; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
-the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
-Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor,
+Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
@end quotation
But in a small program which is just a few files, you can use
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
-59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
+51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
@end quotation
Documentation files should have license notices also. Manuals should
notice and this notice are preserved.
@end smallexample
+If your package distributes Autoconf macros that are intended to be
+used (hence distributed) by third-party packages under possibly
+incompatible licenses, you may also use the above all-permissive
+license for these macros.
+
If you would like help with license issues or with using the GFDL,
please contact @email{licensing@@gnu.org}.
@email{new-mailing-list@@gnu.org}. You can subscribe to a list managed
by Mailman by sending mail to the corresponding @samp{-request} address.
+You should moderate postings from non-subscribed addresses on your
+mailing lists, to prevent propagation of unwanted messages (``spam'')
+to subscribers and to the list archives. For lists controlled by
+Mailman, you can do this by setting @code{Privacy Options - Sender
+Filter - generic_nonmember_action} to @code{Hold}, and then
+periodically (daily is best) reviewing the held messages, accepting
+the real ones and discarding the junk.
+
@cindex responding to bug reports
When you receive bug reports, keep in mind that bug reports are crucial
for your work. If you don't know about problems, you cannot fix them.
Your designated upload email addresses (@pxref{Automated Upload
Registration}) are sent a message if there are any problems processing
-an upload for your package.
+an upload for your package. You also receive a message when your
++upload has been successfully processed.
If you have difficulties processing an upload, email
@email{ftp-upload@@gnu.org}.
@menu
* Invoking gendocs.sh::
+* CVS Keywords in Web Pages::
@end menu
@node Invoking gendocs.sh
correspondence to @email{bug-texinfo@@gnu.org}.
+@node CVS Keywords in Web Pages
+@section CVS Keywords in Web Pages
+@cindex cvs keywords in web pages
+@cindex rcs keywords in web pages
+@cindex $ keywords in web pages
+@cindex web pages, and cvs keywords
+
+Since @code{www.gnu.org} works through CVS, CVS keywords in your
+manual, such as @code{@w{$}Log$}, need special treatment (even if you
+don't happen to maintain your manual in CVS).
+
+If these keywords end up in the generated output as literal strings,
+they will be expanded. The most robust way to handle this is to turn
+off keyword expansion for such generated files. For existing files,
+this is done with:
+
+@example
+cvs admin -ko @var{file1} @var{file2} ...
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+For new files:
+
+@example
+cvs add -ko @var{file1} @var{file2} ...
+@end example
+
+@xref{Keyword substitution,,,cvs,Version Management with CVS}.
+
+In Texinfo source, the recommended way to literally specify a
+``dollar'' keyword is:
+
+@example
+@@w@{$@}Log$
+@end example
+
+The @code{@@w} prevents keyword expansion in the Texinfo source
+itself. Also, @code{makeinfo} notices the @code{@@w} and generates
+output avoiding the literal keyword string.
+
+
@node Ethical and Philosophical Consideration
@chapter Ethical and Philosophical Consideration
@cindex ethics
your views on these issues are up to you, and you're entitled to express
them when speaking for yourself.
-However, due to the much greater publicity that the Open Source Movement
-receives, the GNU Project needs to overcome a widespread mistaken
-impression that GNU is @emph{and always was} an activity of the Open
-Source Movement. For this reason, please use the term ``free
-software,'' rather than ``open source,'' in GNU software releases, GNU
+However, due to the much greater publicity that the Open Source
+Movement receives, the GNU Project needs to overcome a widespread
+mistaken impression that GNU is @emph{and always was} an activity of
+the Open Source Movement. For this reason, please use the term ``free
+software,'' not ``open source,'' in GNU software releases, GNU
documentation, and announcements and articles that you publish in your
role as the maintainer of a GNU package. A reference to the URL given
-above, to explain the difference, is a useful thing to include as well.
+above, to explain the difference, is a useful thing to include as
+well.
@node GNU and Linux
@section GNU and Linux
projects / gnulib.git / blobdiff