1 \input texinfo.tex @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @setfilename maintain.info
4 @settitle Information for Maintainers of GNU Software
5 @c For double-sided printing, uncomment:
6 @c @setchapternewpage odd
7 @c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
9 @set lastupdate December 2, 2011
11 @set lastupdate March 20, 2012
12 >>>>>>> snapshot-start
15 @dircategory GNU organization
17 * Maintaining: (maintain). Maintaining GNU software.
20 @setchapternewpage off
22 @c Put everything in one index (arbitrarily chosen to be the concept index).
27 Information for maintainers of GNU software, last updated @value{lastupdate}.
29 Copyright @copyright{} 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
30 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
31 2010, 2011, 2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
34 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
35 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
36 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
37 Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
38 Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
39 ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
44 @title Information for Maintainers of GNU Software
45 @author Richard Stallman
46 @author last updated @value{lastupdate}
48 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
64 * GNU Accounts and Resources::
66 * Recruiting Developers::
74 * Ethical and Philosophical Consideration::
78 * Free Software Directory::
79 * Using the Proofreaders List::
80 * GNU Free Documentation License::
86 @chapter About This Document
88 This file contains guidelines and advice for someone who is the
89 maintainer of a GNU program on behalf of the GNU Project. Everyone is
90 entitled to change and redistribute GNU software; you need not pay
91 attention to this file to get permission. But if you want to maintain
92 a version for widespread distribution, we suggest you follow these
93 guidelines. If you are or would like to be a GNU maintainer, then it
94 is essential to follow these guidelines.
96 In addition to this document, please read and follow the GNU Coding
97 Standards (@pxref{Top, , Contents, standards, GNU Coding Standards}).
99 @cindex @code{bug-standards@@gnu.org} email address
100 @cindex Savannah repository for @code{gnustandards}
101 @cindex @code{gnustandards} project repository
102 Please send corrections or suggestions for this document to
103 @email{bug-standards@@gnu.org}. If you make a suggestion, please
104 include suggested new wording if you can. We prefer a context diff to
105 the Texinfo source, but if that's difficult for you, you can make a
106 diff for some other version of this document, or propose it in any way
107 that makes it clear. The source repository for this document can be
108 found at @url{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnustandards}.
110 @cindex @code{gnustandards-commit@@gnu.org} mailing list
111 If you want to receive diffs for every change to these GNU documents,
112 join the mailing list @code{gnustandards-commit@@gnu.org}, for
113 instance via the web interface at
114 @url{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustandards-commit}.
115 Archives are also available there.
117 @cindex Piercy, Marge
118 This document uses the gender-neutral third-person pronouns ``person'',
119 ``per'', ``pers'' and ``perself'' which were promoted, and perhaps
120 invented, by Marge Piercy in @cite{Woman on the Edge of Time}. They are
121 used just like ``she'', ``her'', ``hers'' and ``herself'', except that
122 they apply equally to males and females. For example, ``Person placed
123 per new program under the GNU GPL, to let the public benefit from per
124 work, and to enable per to feel person has done the right thing.''
126 This release of the GNU Maintainer Information was last updated
131 @chapter Getting Help
132 @cindex help, getting
134 @cindex @code{mentors@@gnu.org} mailing list
135 If you have any general questions or encounter a situation where it
136 isn't clear how to get something done or who to ask, you (as a GNU
137 contributor) can always write to @email{mentors@@gnu.org}, which is a
138 list of a few experienced GNU folks who have volunteered to answer
139 questions. Any GNU-related question is fair game for the
142 @cindex advisory committee
143 The GNU Advisory Committee helps to coordinate activities in the GNU
144 project on behalf of RMS (Richard Stallman, the Chief GNUisance). If
145 you have any organizational questions or concerns you can contact the
146 committee at @email{gnu-advisory@@gnu.org}. See
147 @url{http://www.gnu.org/contact/gnu-advisory.html} for the current
148 committee members. Additional information is in
149 @file{/gd/gnuorg/advisory}.
151 @cindex down, when GNU machines are
152 @cindex outage, of GNU machines
153 @cindex @url{http://identi.ca/group/fsfstatus}
154 If you find that any GNU computer systems (@code{fencepost.gnu.org},
155 @code{ftp.gnu.org}, @code{www.gnu.org}, @code{savannah.gnu.org},
156 @dots{}) seem to be down, you can check the current status at
157 @url{http://identi.ca/group/fsfstatus}. Most likely the problem, if
158 it can be alleviated at the FSF end, is already being worked on.
160 @cindex sysadmin, FSF
161 @cindex FSF system administrators
162 @cindex GNU system administrators
163 The FSF system administrators are responsible for the network and GNU
164 hardware. You can email them at @email{sysadmin@@fsf.org}, but please
165 try not to burden them unnecessarily.
168 @node GNU Accounts and Resources
169 @chapter GNU Accounts and Resources
170 @cindex shell account, on fencepost
171 @cindex @code{fencepost.gnu.org} GNU login host
172 @cindex resources for GNU developers
173 @cindex development resources
175 @c We want to repeat this text later, so define a macro.
177 The directory @file{/gd/gnuorg} mentioned throughout this document is
178 available on the general GNU server, currently
179 @code{fencepost.gnu.org}. If you are the maintainer of a GNU package,
180 you should have an account there. If you don't have one already,
181 @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html}. You can also
182 ask for accounts for people who significantly help you in working on
188 Other resources available to GNU maintainers are described at
189 @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/devel.html}, as well as throughout
190 this document. In brief:
193 @item Login accounts (see above).
195 @item Version control (@pxref{Old Versions}).
197 @item Mailing lists (@pxref{Mail}).
199 @item Web pages (@pxref{Web Pages}).
201 @item Mirrored release areas (@pxref{Distributions}).
204 @cindex @code{platform-testers} mailing list
205 @item Pre-release portability testing, both automated (via Hydra) and
206 on request (via volunteers).
212 @chapter Stepping Down
213 @cindex stepping down as maintainer
214 @cindex resigning as maintainer
216 With good fortune, you will continue maintaining your package for many
217 decades. But sometimes for various reasons maintainers decide to step
220 If you're the official maintainer of a GNU package and you decide to
221 step down, please inform the GNU Project (@email{maintainers@@gnu.org}).
222 We need to know that the package no longer has a maintainer, so we can
223 look for and appoint a new maintainer.
225 @cindex @email{maintainers@@gnu.org}
226 If you have an idea for who should take over, please tell
227 @email{maintainers@@gnu.org} your suggestion. The appointment of a new
228 maintainer needs the GNU Project's confirmation, but your judgment that
229 a person is capable of doing the job will carry a lot of weight.
231 As your final act as maintainer, it would be helpful to set up or
232 update the package under @code{savannah.gnu.org} (@pxref{Old
233 Versions}). This will make it much easier for the new maintainer to
234 pick up where you left off and will ensure that the source tree is not
235 misplaced if it takes us a while to find a new maintainer.
238 @node Recruiting Developers
239 @chapter Recruiting Developers
241 Unless your package is a fairly small, you probably won't do all the
242 work on it yourself. Most maintainers recruit other developers to help.
244 Sometimes people will offer to help. Some of them will be capable,
245 while others will not. It's up to you to determine who provides useful
246 help, and encourage those people to participate more.
248 Some of the people who offer to help will support the GNU Project, while
249 others may be interested for other reasons. Some will support the goals
250 of the Free Software Movement, but some may not. They are all welcome
251 to help with the work---we don't ask people's views or motivations
252 before they contribute to GNU packages.
254 As a consequence, you cannot expect all contributors to support the GNU
255 Project, or to have a concern for its policies and standards. So part
256 of your job as maintainer is to exercise your authority on these points
257 when they arise. No matter how much of the work other people do, you
258 are in charge of what goes in the release. When a crucial point arises,
259 you should calmly state your decision and stick to it.
261 Sometimes a package has several co-maintainers who share the role of
262 maintainer. Unlike developers who help, co-maintainers have actually
263 been appointed jointly as the maintainers of the package, and they carry
264 out the maintainer's functions together. If you would like to propose
265 some of your developers as co-maintainers, please contact
266 @email{maintainers@@gnu.org}.
268 We're happy to acknowledge all major contributors to GNU packages on
269 the @url{http://www.gnu.org/people/people.html} web page. Please send
270 an entry for yourself to @email{webmasters@@gnu.org}, and feel free to
271 suggest it to other significant developers on your package.
275 @chapter Legal Matters
276 @cindex legal matters
278 This chapter describes procedures you should follow for legal reasons
279 as you maintain the program, to avoid legal difficulties.
283 * Legally Significant::
284 * Recording Contributors::
285 * Copying from Other Packages::
286 * Copyright Notices::
288 * External Libraries::
291 @node Copyright Papers
292 @section Copyright Papers
293 @cindex copyright papers
295 If you maintain an FSF-copyrighted package
296 certain legal procedures are required when incorporating legally significant
297 changes written by other people. This ensures that the FSF has the
298 legal right to distribute the package, and the standing to defend its
299 GPL-covered status in court if necessary.
301 @strong{Before} incorporating significant changes, make sure that the
302 person who wrote the changes has signed copyright papers and that the
303 Free Software Foundation has received and signed them. We may also need
304 an employer's disclaimer from the person's employer.
306 @cindex data base of GNU copyright assignments
307 To check whether papers have been received, look in
308 @file{/gd/gnuorg/copyright.list}. If you can't look there directly,
309 @email{fsf-records@@gnu.org} can check for you. Our clerk can also
310 check for papers that are waiting to be entered and inform you when
311 expected papers arrive.
313 @cindex @file{/gd/gnuorg} directory
314 @c This paragraph intentionally duplicates information given
315 @c near the beginning of the file--to make sure people don't miss it.
318 In order for the contributor to know person should sign papers, you need
319 to ask per for the necessary papers. If you don't know per well, and you
320 don't know that person is used to our ways of handling copyright papers,
321 then it might be a good idea to raise the subject with a message like
325 Would you be willing to assign the copyright to the Free Software
326 Foundation, so that we could install it in @var{package}?
333 Would you be willing to sign a copyright disclaimer to put this change
334 in the public domain, so that we can install it in @var{package}?
337 If the contributor then wants more information, you can send per the file
338 @file{/gd/gnuorg/conditions.text}, which explains per options (assign
339 vs.@: disclaim) and their consequences.
341 Once the conversation is under way and the contributor is ready for
342 more details, you should send one of the templates that are found in
343 the directory @file{/gd/gnuorg/Copyright/}; they are also available
344 from the @file{doc/Copyright/} directory of the @code{gnulib} project
345 at @url{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib}. This section
346 explains which templates you should use in which circumstances.
347 @strong{Please don't use any of the templates except for those listed
348 here, and please don't change the wording.}
350 Once the conversation is under way, you can send the contributor the
351 precise wording and instructions by email. Before you do this, make
352 sure to get the current version of the template you will use! We change
353 these templates occasionally---don't keep using an old version.
355 For large changes, ask the contributor for an assignment. Send per a
356 copy of the file @file{request-assign.changes}. (Like all the
357 @samp{request-} files, it is in @file{/gd/gnuorg/Copyright} and in
360 For medium to small changes, request a personal disclaimer by sending
361 per the file @file{request-disclaim.changes}.
363 If the contributor is likely to keep making changes, person might want
364 to sign an assignment for all per future changes to the program. So it
365 is useful to offer per that alternative. If person wants to do it that
366 way, send per the @file{request-assign.future}.
368 When you send a @file{request-} file, you don't need to fill in anything
369 before sending it. Just send the file verbatim to the contributor. The
370 file gives per instructions for how to ask the FSF to mail per the
371 papers to sign. The @file{request-} file also raises the issue of
372 getting an employer's disclaimer from the contributor's employer.
374 When the contributor emails the form to the FSF, the FSF sends per an
375 electronic (usually PDF) copy of the assignment. All contributors
376 then print the assignment and sign it. Contributors residing outside
377 the U.S. must mail the signed form to the FSF via the post.
378 Contributors located in the U.S. can then email or fax a scanned copy
379 back to the FSF (or use postal mail, if they prefer). (To emphasize,
380 the necessary distinction is between US residents and non-residents,
381 citizenship does not matter.)
383 For less common cases, we have template files you should send to the
384 contributor. Be sure to fill in the name of the person and the name
385 of the program in these templates, where it says @samp{NAME OF PERSON}
386 and @samp{NAME OF PROGRAM}, before sending; otherwise person might
387 sign without noticing them, and the papers would be useless. Note
388 that in some templates there is more than one place to put the name of
389 the program or the name of the person; be sure to change all of them.
390 All the templates raise the issue of an employer's disclaimer as well.
392 @cindex legal papers for changes in manuals
393 You do not need to ask for separate papers for a manual that is
394 distributed only in the software package it describes. But if we
395 sometimes distribute the manual separately (for instance, if we publish
396 it as a book), then we need separate legal papers for changes in the
397 manual. For smaller changes, use
398 @file{disclaim.changes.manual}; for larger ones, use
399 @file{assign.changes.manual}. To cover both past and future
400 changes to a manual, you can use @file{assign.future.manual}.
401 For a translation of a manual, use @file{assign.translation.manual}.
403 For translations of program strings (as used by GNU Gettext, for
404 example; @pxref{Internationalization,,, standards, GNU Coding
405 Standards}), use @file{disclaim.translation}. If you make use of the
406 Translation Project (@url{http://translationproject.org}) facilities,
407 please check with the TP coordinators that they have sent the
408 contributor the papers; if they haven't, then you should send the
409 papers. In any case, you should wait for the confirmation from the
410 FSF that the signed papers have been received and accepted before
411 integrating the new contributor's material, as usual.
413 If a contributor is reluctant to sign an assignment for a large change,
414 and is willing to sign a disclaimer instead, that is acceptable, so you
415 should offer this alternative if it helps you reach agreement. We
416 prefer an assignment for a larger change, so that we can enforce the GNU
417 GPL for the new text, but a disclaimer is enough to let us use the text.
419 If you maintain a collection of programs, occasionally someone will
420 contribute an entire separate program or manual that should be added to
421 the collection. Then you can use the files
422 @file{request-assign.program}, @file{disclaim.program},
423 @file{assign.manual}, and @file{disclaim.manual}. We very much prefer
424 an assignment for a new separate program or manual, unless it is quite
425 small, but a disclaimer is acceptable if the contributor insists on
426 handling the matter that way.
428 If a contributor wants the FSF to publish only a pseudonym, that is
429 ok. The contributor should say this, and state the desired pseudonym,
430 when answering the @file{request-} form. The actual legal papers will
431 use the real name, but the FSF will publish only the pseudonym. When
432 using one of the other forms, fill in the real name but ask the
433 contributor to discuss the use of a pseudonym with
434 @email{assign@@gnu.org} before sending back the signed form.
436 @strong{Although there are other templates besides the ones listed here,
437 they are for special circumstances; please do not use them without
438 getting advice from @email{assign@@gnu.org}.}
440 If you are not sure what to do, then please ask @email{assign@@gnu.org} for
441 advice; if the contributor asks you questions about the meaning and
442 consequences of the legal papers, and you don't know the answers, you
443 can forward them to @email{assign@@gnu.org} and we will answer.
445 @strong{Please do not try changing the wording of a template yourself.
446 If you think a change is needed, please talk with @email{assign@@gnu.org},
447 and we will work with a lawyer to decide what to do.}
449 @node Legally Significant
450 @section Legally Significant Changes
452 If a person contributes more than around 15 lines of code and/or text
453 that is legally significant for copyright purposes, we
454 need copyright papers for that contribution, as described above.
456 A change of just a few lines (less than 15 or so) is not legally
457 significant for copyright. A regular series of repeated changes, such
458 as renaming a symbol, is not legally significant even if the symbol
459 has to be renamed in many places. Keep in mind, however, that a
460 series of minor changes by the same person can add up to a significant
461 contribution. What counts is the total contribution of the person; it
462 is irrelevant which parts of it were contributed when.
464 Copyright does not cover ideas. If someone contributes ideas but no
465 text, these ideas may be morally significant as contributions, and
466 worth giving credit for, but they are not significant for copyright
467 purposes. Likewise, bug reports do not count for copyright purposes.
469 When giving credit to people whose contributions are not legally
470 significant for copyright purposes, be careful to make that fact
471 clear. The credit should clearly say they did not contribute
472 significant code or text.
474 When people's contributions are not legally significant because they
475 did not write code, do this by stating clearly what their contribution
476 was. For instance, you could write this:
481 * Richard Mlynarik <mly@@adoc.xerox.com> (1997)
482 * Masatake Yamato <masata-y@@is.aist-nara.ac.jp> (1999)
487 @code{Ideas by:} makes it clear that Mlynarik and Yamato here
488 contributed only ideas, not code. Without the @code{Ideas by:} note,
489 several years from now we would find it hard to be sure whether they
490 had contributed code, and we might have to track them down and ask
493 When you record a small patch in a change log file, first search for
494 previous changes by the same person, and see if per past
495 contributions, plus the new one, add up to something legally
496 significant. If so, you should get copyright papers for all per
497 changes before you install the new change.
499 If that is not so, you can install the small patch. Write @samp{(tiny
500 change)} after the patch author's name, like this:
503 2002-11-04 Robert Fenk <Robert.Fenk@@gmx.de> (tiny change)
506 @node Recording Contributors
507 @section Recording Contributors
508 @cindex recording contributors
510 @strong{Keep correct records of which portions were written by whom.}
511 This is very important. These records should say which files or
512 parts of files were written by each person, and which files or
513 parts of files were revised by each person. This should include
514 installation scripts as well as manuals and documentation
517 These records don't need to be as detailed as a change log. They
518 don't need to distinguish work done at different times, only different
519 people. They don't need describe changes in more detail than which
520 files or parts of a file were changed. And they don't need to say
521 anything about the function or purpose of a file or change---the
522 Register of Copyrights doesn't care what the text does, just who wrote
523 or contributed to which parts.
525 The list should also mention if certain files distributed in the same
526 package are really a separate program.
528 Only the contributions that are legally significant for copyright
529 purposes (@pxref{Legally Significant}) need to be listed. Small
530 contributions, bug reports, ideas, etc., can be omitted.
532 For example, this would describe an early version of GAS:
535 Dean Elsner first version of all files except gdb-lines.c and m68k.c.
536 Jay Fenlason entire files gdb-lines.c and m68k.c, most of app.c,
537 plus extensive changes in messages.c, input-file.c, write.c
538 and revisions elsewhere.
540 Note: GAS is distributed with the files obstack.c and obstack.h, but
541 they are considered a separate package, not part of GAS proper.
544 @cindex @file{AUTHORS} file
545 Please keep these records in a file named @file{AUTHORS} in the source
546 directory for the program itself.
548 You can use the change log as the basis for these records, if you
549 wish. Just make sure to record the correct author for each change
550 (the person who wrote the change, @emph{not} the person who installed
551 it), and add @samp{(tiny change)} for those changes that are too
552 trivial to matter for copyright purposes. Later on you can update the
553 @file{AUTHORS} file from the change log. This can even be done
554 automatically, if you are careful about the formatting of the change
557 It is ok to include other email addresses, names, and program
558 information in @file{AUTHORS}, such as bug-reporting information.
559 @xref{Standard Mailing Lists}.
562 @node Copying from Other Packages
563 @section Copying from Other Packages
565 When you copy legally significant code from another free software
566 package with a GPL-compatible license, you should look in the
567 package's records to find out the authors of the part you are copying,
568 and list them as the contributors of the code that you copied. If all
569 you did was copy it, not write it, then for copyright purposes you are
570 @emph{not} one of the contributors of @emph{this} code.
572 Especially when code has been released into the public domain, authors
573 sometimes fail to write a license statement in each file. In this
574 case, please first be sure that all the authors of the code have
575 disclaimed copyright interest. Then, when copying the new files into
576 your project, add a brief note at the beginning of the files recording
577 the authors, the public domain status, and anything else relevant.
579 On the other hand, when merging some public domain code into an
580 existing file covered by the GPL (or LGPL or other free software
581 license), there is no reason to indicate the pieces which are public
582 domain. The notice saying that the whole file is under the GPL (or
583 other license) is legally sufficient.
585 Using code that is released under a GPL-compatible free license,
586 rather than being in the public domain, may require preserving
587 copyright notices or other steps. Of course, you should do what is
590 If you are maintaining an FSF-copyrighted package, please verify we
591 have papers for the code you are copying, @emph{before} copying it.
592 If you are copying from another FSF-copyrighted package, then we
593 presumably have papers for that package's own code, but you must check
594 whether the code you are copying is part of an external library; if
595 that is the case, we don't have papers for it, so you should not copy
596 it. It can't hurt in any case to double-check with the developer of
599 When you are copying code for which we do not already have papers, you
600 need to get papers for it. It may be difficult to get the papers if
601 the code was not written as a contribution to your package, but that
602 doesn't mean it is ok to do without them. If you cannot get papers
603 for the code, you can only use it as an external library
604 (@pxref{External Libraries}).
607 @node Copyright Notices
608 @section Copyright Notices
609 @cindex copyright notices in program files
611 You should maintain a proper copyright notice and a license
612 notice in each nontrivial file in the package. (Any file more than ten
613 lines long is nontrivial for this purpose.) This includes header files
614 and interface definitions for
615 building or running the program, documentation files, and any supporting
616 files. If a file has been explicitly placed in the public domain, then
617 instead of a copyright notice, it should have a notice saying explicitly
618 that it is in the public domain.
620 Even image files and sound files should contain copyright notices and
621 license notices, if their format permits. Some formats do not have
622 room for textual annotations; for these files, state the copyright and
623 copying permissions in a @file{README} file in the same directory.
625 Change log files should have a copyright notice and license notice at
626 the end, since new material is added at the beginning but the end
629 When a file is automatically generated from some other file in the
630 distribution, it is useful for the automatic procedure to copy the
631 copyright notice and permission notice of the file it is generated
632 from, if possible. Alternatively, put a notice at the beginning saying
633 which file it is generated from.
635 A copyright notice looks like this:
638 Copyright (C) @var{year1}, @var{year2}, @var{year3} @var{copyright-holder}
641 The word @samp{Copyright} must always be in English, by international
644 The @var{copyright-holder} may be the Free Software Foundation, Inc., or
645 someone else; you should know who is the copyright holder for your
648 Replace the @samp{(C)} with a C-in-a-circle symbol if it is available.
649 For example, use @samp{@@copyright@{@}} in a Texinfo file. However,
650 stick with parenthesized @samp{C} unless you know that C-in-a-circle
651 will work. For example, a program's standard @option{--version}
652 message should use parenthesized @samp{C} by default, though message
653 translations may use C-in-a-circle in locales where that symbol is
654 known to work. Alternatively, the @samp{(C)} or C-in-a-circle can be
655 omitted entirely; the word @samp{Copyright} suffices.
657 To update the list of year numbers, add each year in which you have
658 made nontrivial changes to the package. (Here we assume you're using
659 a publicly accessible revision control server, so that every revision
660 installed is also immediately and automatically published.) When you
661 add the new year, it is not required to keep track of which files have
662 seen significant changes in the new year and which have not. It is
663 recommended and simpler to add the new year to all files in the
664 package, and be done with it for the rest of the year.
666 Don't delete old year numbers, though; they are significant since they
667 indicate when older versions might theoretically go into the public
668 domain, if the movie companies don't continue buying laws to further
669 extend copyright. If you copy a file into the package from some other
670 program, keep the copyright years that come with the file.
672 You can use a range (@samp{2008-2010}) instead of listing individual
673 years (@samp{2008, 2009, 2010}) if and only if: 1)@tie{}every year in
674 the range, inclusive, really is a ``copyrightable'' year that would be
675 listed individually; @emph{and} 2)@tie{}you make an explicit statement
676 in a @file{README} file about this usage.
678 For files which are regularly copied from another project (such as
679 @samp{gnulib}), leave the copyright notice as it is in the original.
681 The copyright statement may be split across multiple lines, both in
682 source files and in any generated output. This often happens for
683 files with a long history, having many different years of
686 For an FSF-copyrighted package, if you have followed the procedures to
687 obtain legal papers, each file should have just one copyright holder:
688 the Free Software Foundation, Inc. You should edit the file's
689 copyright notice to list that name and only that name.
691 But if contributors are not all assigning their copyrights to a single
692 copyright holder, it can easily happen that one file has several
693 copyright holders. Each contributor of nontrivial text is a copyright
696 In that case, you should always include a copyright notice in the name
697 of main copyright holder of the file. You can also include copyright
698 notices for other copyright holders as well, and this is a good idea
699 for those who have contributed a large amount and for those who
700 specifically ask for notices in their names. (Sometimes the license
701 on code that you copy in may require preserving certain copyright
702 notices.) But you don't have to include a notice for everyone who
703 contributed to the file (which would be rather inconvenient).
705 Sometimes a program has an overall copyright notice that refers to the
706 whole program. It might be in the @file{README} file, or it might be
707 displayed when the program starts up. This copyright notice should
708 mention the year of completion of the most recent major version; it
709 can mention years of completion of previous major versions, but that
713 @node License Notices
714 @section License Notices
715 @cindex license notices in program files
717 Every nontrivial file needs a license notice as well as the copyright
718 notice. (Without a license notice giving permission to copy and
719 change the file, the file is non-free.)
721 The package itself should contain a full copy of GPL in plain text
722 (conventionally in a file named @file{COPYING}) and the GNU Free
723 Documentation License (included within your documentation, so there is
724 no need for a separate plain text version). If the package contains
725 any files distributed under the Lesser GPL, it should contain a full
726 copy of its plain text version also (conventionally in a file named
727 @file{COPYING.LESSER}).
729 If you have questions about licensing issues for your GNU package,
730 please write @email{licensing@@gnu.org}.
733 * Which: Licensing of GNU Packages.
734 * Canonical: Canonical License Sources.
735 * Code: License Notices for Code.
736 * Documentation: License Notices for Documentation.
737 * Other: License Notices for Other Files.
741 @node Licensing of GNU Packages
742 @subsection Licensing of GNU Packages
744 Normally, GNU packages should use the latest version of the GNU GPL,
745 with the ``or any later version'' formulation. @xref{License Notices
746 for Code}, for the exact wording of the license notice.
748 Occasionally, a GNU library may provide functionality which is already
749 widely available to proprietary programs through alternative
750 implementations; for example, the GNU C Library. In such cases, the
751 Lesser GPL should be used (again, for the notice wording,
752 @pxref{License Notices for Code}). If a GNU library provides unique
753 functionality, however, the GNU GPL should be used.
754 @url{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html} discusses this
757 Some of these libraries need to work with programs released under
758 GPLv2-only; that is, which allow the GNU GPL version 2 but not later
759 versions. In this case, the GNU package should be released under a
760 dual license: GNU GPL version 2 (or any later version) and the GNU
761 Lesser GPL version 3 (or any later version). Here is the notice for
765 This file is part of GNU @var{package}.
767 GNU @var{package} is free software: you can redistribute it and/or
768 modify it under the terms of either:
770 * the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
771 Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your
772 option) any later version.
776 * the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
777 Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
778 option) any later version.
780 or both in parallel, as here.
782 GNU @var{package} is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
783 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
784 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
785 General Public License for more details.
787 You should have received copies of the GNU General Public License and
788 the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this program. If
789 not, see @url{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/}.
792 For small packages, you can use ``This program'' instead of ``GNU
796 @node Canonical License Sources
797 @subsection Canonical License Sources
799 You can get the official versions of these files from several places.
800 You can use whichever is the most convenient for you.
804 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/}.
807 The @code{gnulib} project on @code{savannah.gnu.org}, which you
808 can access via anonymous Git or CVS. See
809 @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib}.
813 The official Texinfo sources for the licenses are also available in
814 those same places, so you can include them in your documentation. A
815 GFDL-covered manual should include the GFDL in this way. @xref{GNU
816 Sample Texts,,, texinfo, Texinfo}, for a full example in a Texinfo
820 @node License Notices for Code
821 @subsection License Notices for Code
823 Typically the license notice for program files (including build scripts,
824 configure files and makefiles) should cite the GPL, like this:
827 This file is part of GNU @var{package}.
829 GNU @var{package} is free software: you can redistribute it and/or
830 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
831 published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
832 License, or (at your option) any later version.
834 GNU @var{package} is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
835 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
836 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
837 GNU General Public License for more details.
839 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
840 along with this program. If not, see @url{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/}.
843 But in a small program which is just a few files, you can use
847 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
848 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
849 the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
850 (at your option) any later version.
852 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
853 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
854 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
855 GNU General Public License for more details.
857 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
858 along with this program. If not, see @url{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/}.
861 In either case, for those few packages which use the Lesser GPL
862 (@pxref{Licensing of GNU Packages}), insert the word ``Lesser'' before
863 ``General'' in @emph{all three} places.
864 @url{http://@/www.gnu.org/@/licenses/@/gpl-howto.html} discusses application
865 the GPL in more detail.
868 @node License Notices for Documentation
869 @subsection License Notices for Documentation
871 Documentation files should have license notices also. Manuals should
872 use the GNU Free Documentation License. Following is an example of the
873 license notice to use after the copyright line(s) using all the
874 features of the GFDL.
877 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
878 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
879 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
880 Invariant Sections being ``GNU General Public License'', with the
881 Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts
882 as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section
883 entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
885 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to
886 copy and modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF
887 supports it in developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
890 If the FSF does not publish this manual on paper, then omit the last
891 sentence in (a) that talks about copies from GNU Press. If the FSF is
892 not the copyright holder, then replace @samp{FSF} with the appropriate
895 Please adjust the list of invariant sections as appropriate for your
896 manual. If there are none, then say ``with no Invariant Sections''.
897 If your manual is not published by the FSF, and under 400 pages, you
898 can omit both cover texts.
900 @xref{GNU Sample Texts,,, texinfo, Texinfo}, for a full example in a
901 Texinfo manual, and see
902 @url{http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-howto.html} for more advice about
903 how to use the GNU FDL.
905 If you write a manual that people might want to buy on paper, please
906 write to @email{maintainers@@gnu.org} to tell the FSF about it. We
907 might want to publish it.
909 If the manual is over 400 pages, or if the FSF thinks it might be a
910 good choice for publishing on paper, then please include the GNU GPL,
911 as in the notice above. Please also include our standard invariant
912 section which explains the importance of free documentation. Write to
913 @email{assign@@gnu.org} to get a copy of this section.
915 When you distribute several manuals together in one software package,
916 their on-line forms can share a single copy of the GFDL (see
917 section@tie{}6). However, the printed (@samp{.dvi}, @samp{.pdf},
918 @dots{}) forms should each contain a copy of the GFDL, unless they are
919 set up to be printed and published only together. Therefore, it is
920 usually simplest to include the GFDL in each manual.
923 @node License Notices for Other Files
924 @subsection License Notices for Other Files
926 Small supporting files, short manuals (under 300 lines long) and rough
927 documentation (@file{README} files, @file{INSTALL} files, etc.)@: can
928 use a simple all-permissive license like this one:
931 Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
932 are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
933 notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is,
934 without any warranty.
937 Older versions of this license did not have the second sentence with
938 the express warranty disclaimer. There is no urgent need to update
939 existing files, but new files should use the new text.
941 If your package distributes Autoconf macros that are intended to be
942 used (hence distributed) by third-party packages under possibly
943 incompatible licenses, you may also use the above all-permissive
944 license for these macros.
947 @node External Libraries
948 @section External Libraries
950 When maintaining an FSF-copyrighted GNU package, you may occasionally
951 want to use a general-purpose free software module which offers a
952 useful functionality, as a ``library'' facility (though the module is
953 not always packaged technically as a library).
955 In a case like this, it would be unreasonable to ask the author of that
956 module to assign the copyright to the FSF. After all, person did not
957 write it specifically as a contribution to your package, so it would be
958 impertinent to ask per, out of the blue, ``Please give the FSF your
961 So the thing to do in this case is to make your program use the module,
962 but not consider it a part of your program. There are two reasonable
963 methods of doing this:
967 Assume the module is already installed on the system, and use it when
968 linking your program. This is only reasonable if the module really has
969 the form of a library.
972 Include the module in your package, putting the source in a separate
973 subdirectory whose @file{README} file says, ``This is not part of the
974 GNU FOO program, but is used with GNU FOO.'' Then set up your makefiles
975 to build this module and link it into the executable.
977 For this method, it is not necessary to treat the module as a library
978 and make a @samp{.a} file from it. You can link with the @samp{.o}
979 files directly in the usual manner.
982 Both of these methods create an irregularity, and our lawyers have told
983 us to minimize the amount of such irregularity. So consider using these
984 methods only for general-purpose modules that were written for other
985 programs and released separately for general use. For anything that was
986 written as a contribution to your package, please get papers signed.
990 @chapter Cleaning Up Changes
991 @cindex contributions, accepting
992 @cindex quality of changes suggested by others
994 Don't feel obligated to include every change that someone asks you to
995 include. You must judge which changes are improvements---partly based
996 on what you think the users will like, and partly based on your own
997 judgment of what is better. If you think a change is not good, you
1000 If someone sends you changes which are useful, but written in an ugly
1001 way or hard to understand and maintain in the future, don't hesitate to
1002 ask per to clean up their changes before you merge them. Since the
1003 amount of work we can do is limited, the more we convince others to help
1004 us work efficiently, the faster GNU will advance.
1006 If the contributor will not or can not make the changes clean enough,
1007 then it is legitimate to say ``I can't install this in its present form;
1008 I can only do so if you clean it up.'' Invite per to distribute per
1009 changes another way, or to find other people to make them clean enough
1010 for you to install and maintain.
1012 The only reason to do these cleanups yourself is if (1) it is easy, less
1013 work than telling the author what to clean up, or (2) the change is an
1014 important one, important enough to be worth the work of cleaning it up.
1016 The GNU Coding Standards are a good thing to send people when you ask
1017 them to clean up changes (@pxref{Top, , Contents, standards, GNU Coding
1018 Standards}). The Emacs Lisp manual contains an appendix that gives
1019 coding standards for Emacs Lisp programs; it is good to urge Lisp authors to
1020 read it (@pxref{Tips, , Tips and Conventions, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
1025 @chapter Platforms to Support
1027 Most GNU packages run on a wide range of platforms. These platforms are
1028 not equally important.
1030 The most important platforms for a GNU package to support are GNU and
1031 GNU/Linux. Developing the GNU operating system is the whole point of
1032 the GNU Project; a GNU package exists to make the whole GNU system more
1033 powerful. So please keep that goal in mind and let it shape your work.
1034 For instance, every new feature you add should work on GNU, and
1035 GNU/Linux if possible too. If a new feature only runs on GNU and
1036 GNU/Linux, it could still be acceptable. However, a feature that runs
1037 only on other systems and not on GNU or GNU/Linux makes no sense in a
1040 You will naturally want to keep the program running on all the platforms
1041 it supports. But you personally will not have access to most of these
1042 platforms---so how should you do it?
1044 Don't worry about trying to get access to all of these platforms. Even
1045 if you did have access to all the platforms, it would be inefficient for
1046 you to test the program on each platform yourself. Instead, you should
1047 test the program on a few platforms, including GNU or GNU/Linux, and let
1048 the users test it on the other platforms. You can do this through a
1049 pretest phase before the real release; when there is no reason to expect
1050 problems, in a package that is mostly portable, you can just make a
1051 release and let the users tell you if anything unportable was
1054 It is important to test the program personally on GNU or GNU/Linux,
1055 because these are the most important platforms for a GNU package. If
1056 you don't have access to one of these platforms, as a GNU maintainer
1057 you can get access to the general GNU login machine; see
1058 @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html}.
1060 Supporting other platforms is optional---we do it when that seems like
1061 a good idea, but we don't consider it obligatory. If the users don't
1062 take care of a certain platform, you may have to desupport it unless
1063 and until users come forward to help. Conversely, if a user offers
1064 changes to support an additional platform, you will probably want to
1065 install them, but you don't have to. If you feel the changes are
1066 complex and ugly, if you think that they will increase the burden of
1067 future maintenance, you can and should reject them. This includes
1068 both free or mainly-free platforms such as OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and
1069 NetBSD, and non-free platforms such as Windows.
1073 @chapter Dealing With Mail
1076 This chapter describes setting up mailing lists for your package, and
1077 gives advice on how to handle bug reports and random requests once you
1081 * Standard Mailing Lists:: @samp{bug-pkg@@gnu.org} and other standard names.
1082 * Creating Mailing Lists:: The best way is to use Savannah.
1083 * Replying to Mail:: Advice on replying to incoming mail.
1087 @node Standard Mailing Lists
1088 @section Standard Mailing Lists
1090 @cindex standard mailing lists
1091 @cindex mailing lists, standard names of
1093 @cindex mailing list for bug reports
1094 Once a program is in use, you will get bug reports for it. Most GNU
1095 programs have their own special lists for sending bug reports. The
1096 advertised bug-reporting email address should always be
1097 @samp{bug-@var{package}@@gnu.org}, to help show users that the program
1098 is a GNU package, but it is ok to set up that list to forward to another
1101 @cindex @email{bug-gnu-utils@@gnu.org}
1102 We also have a catch-all list, @email{bug-gnu-utils@@gnu.org}, which is
1103 used for all GNU programs that don't have their own specific lists. But
1104 nowadays we want to give each program its own bug-reporting list and
1105 move away from using @email{bug-gnu-utils}.
1107 @xref{Replying to Mail}, for more about handling and tracking bug
1110 @cindex help for users, mailing list for
1111 Some GNU programs with many users have another mailing list,
1112 @samp{help-@var{package}.org}, for people to ask other users for help.
1113 If your program has many users, you should create such a list for it.
1114 For a fairly new program, which doesn't have a large user base yet, it
1115 is better not to bother with this.
1117 @cindex announcements, mailing list for
1118 If you wish, you can also have a mailing list
1119 @samp{info-@var{package}} for announcements (@pxref{Announcements}).
1120 Any other mailing lists you find useful can also be created.
1122 The package distribution should state the name of all the package's
1123 mailing lists in a prominent place, and ask users to help us by
1124 reporting bugs appropriately. The top-level @file{README} file and/or
1125 @file{AUTHORS} file are good places. Mailing list information should
1126 also be included in the manual and the package web pages (@pxref{Web
1131 @node Creating Mailing Lists
1132 @section Creating Mailing Lists
1134 @cindex creating mailing lists
1135 @cindex mailing lists, creating
1137 Using the web interface on @code{savannah.gnu.org} is by far the
1138 easiest way to create normal mailing lists, managed through Mailman on
1139 the GNU mail server. Once you register your package on Savannah, you
1140 can create (and remove) lists yourself through the `Mailing Lists'
1141 menu, without needing to wait for intervention by anyone else.
1142 Furthermore, lists created through Savannah will have a reasonable
1143 default configuration for antispam purposes (see below).
1145 To create and maintain simple aliases and unmanaged lists, you can
1146 edit @file{/com/mailer/aliases} on the main GNU server. If you don't
1147 have an account there, please read
1148 @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html} (@pxref{GNU
1149 Accounts and Resources}).
1151 But if you don't want to learn how to do those things, you can
1152 alternatively ask @email{alias-file@@gnu.org} to add you to the
1153 bug-reporting list for your program. To set up a new list, contact
1154 @email{new-mailing-list@@gnu.org}. You can subscribe to a list managed
1155 by Mailman by sending mail to the corresponding @samp{-request} address.
1157 @cindex spam prevention
1158 You should moderate postings from non-subscribed addresses on your
1159 mailing lists, to prevent propagation of unwanted messages (``spam'')
1160 to subscribers and to the list archives. For lists controlled by
1161 Mailman, you can do this by setting @code{Privacy Options - Sender
1162 Filter - generic_nonmember_action} to @code{Hold}, and then
1163 periodically (daily is best) reviewing the held messages, accepting
1164 the real ones and discarding the junk.
1166 Lists created through Savannah will have this setting, and a number of
1167 others, such that spam will be automatically deleted (after a short
1168 delay). The Savannah mailing list page describes all the details.
1169 You should still review the held messages in order to approve any that
1173 @node Replying to Mail
1174 @section Replying to Mail
1176 @cindex responding to bug reports
1177 @cindex bug reports, handling
1178 @cindex help requests, handling
1180 When you receive bug reports, keep in mind that bug reports are crucial
1181 for your work. If you don't know about problems, you cannot fix them.
1182 So always thank each person who sends a bug report.
1184 You don't have an obligation to give more response than that, though.
1185 The main purpose of bug reports is to help you contribute to the
1186 community by improving the next version of the program. Many of the
1187 people who report bugs don't realize this---they think that the point is
1188 for you to help them individually. Some will ask you to focus on that
1189 @emph{instead of} on making the program better. If you comply with
1190 their wishes, you will have been distracted from the job of maintaining
1193 For example, people sometimes report a bug in a vague (and therefore
1194 useless) way, and when you ask for more information, they say, ``I just
1195 wanted to see if you already knew the solution'' (in which case the bug
1196 report would do nothing to help improve the program). When this
1197 happens, you should explain to them the real purpose of bug reports. (A
1198 canned explanation will make this more efficient.)
1200 When people ask you to put your time into helping them use the program,
1201 it may seem ``helpful'' to do what they ask. But it is much @emph{less}
1202 helpful than improving the program, which is the maintainer's real job.
1204 By all means help individual users when you feel like it, if you feel
1205 you have the time available. But be careful to limit the amount of time
1206 you spend doing this---don't let it eat away the time you need to
1207 maintain the program! Know how to say no; when you are pressed for
1208 time, just ``thanks for the bug report---I will fix it'' is enough
1211 Some GNU packages, such as Emacs and GCC, come with advice about how
1212 to make bug reports useful. Copying and adapting that could be very
1213 useful for your package.
1215 @cindex @url{http://bugs.gnu.org}
1216 @cindex bug reports, email tracker for
1217 @cindex bug reports, web tracker for
1218 If you would like to use an email-based bug tracking system, see
1219 @url{http://bugs.gnu.org}; this can be connected with the regular
1220 bug-reporting address. Alternatively, if you would like to use a
1221 web-based bug tracking system, Savannah supports this (@pxref{Old
1222 Versions}), but please don't fail to accept bugs by regular email as
1223 well---we don't want to put up unnecessary barriers against users
1228 @chapter Recording Old Versions
1229 @cindex version control
1231 It is very important to keep backup files of all source files of GNU.
1232 You can do this using a source control system (such as Bazaar, RCS,
1233 CVS, Git, Subversion, @dots{}) if you like. An easy way to use
1234 many such systems is via the Version Control library in Emacs
1235 (@pxref{Introduction to VC,, Introduction to Version Control, emacs,
1236 The GNU Emacs Manual}).
1238 The history of previous revisions and log entries is very important for
1239 future maintainers of the package, so even if you do not make it
1240 publicly accessible, be careful not to put anything in the repository or
1241 change log that you would not want to hand over to another maintainer
1244 @cindex @code{savannah-hackers@@gnu.org}
1245 The GNU Project provides a server that GNU packages can use
1246 for source control and other package needs: @code{savannah.gnu.org}.
1247 Savannah is managed by @email{savannah-hackers@@gnu.org}. For more
1248 details on using and contributing to Savannah, see
1249 @url{http://savannah.gnu.org/maintenance}.
1251 It's not an absolute requirement, but all GNU maintainers are strongly
1252 encouraged to take advantage of Savannah, as sharing such a central
1253 point can serve to foster a sense of community among GNU developers as
1254 well as help in keeping up with project management. Please don't mark
1255 Savannah projects for GNU packages as private; that defeats a large
1256 part of the purpose of using Savannah in the first place.
1258 @cindex @code{savannah-announce@@gnu.org} mailing list
1259 If you do use Savannah, please subscribe to the
1260 @email{savannah-announce@@gnu.org} mailing list
1261 (@url{http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/savannah-announce}). This
1262 is a very low-volume list to keep Savannah users informed of system
1263 upgrades, problems, and the like.
1267 @chapter Distributions
1269 Please follow the GNU conventions when making GNU software
1273 * Distribution tar Files::
1274 * Distribution Patches::
1275 * Distribution on ftp.gnu.org::
1277 * Automated FTP Uploads::
1281 @node Distribution tar Files
1282 @section Distribution tar Files
1283 @cindex distribution, tar files
1285 The tar file for version @var{m}.@var{n} of program @code{foo} should be
1286 named @file{foo-@var{m}.@var{n}.tar}. It should unpack into a
1287 subdirectory named @file{foo-@var{m}.@var{n}}. Tar files should not
1288 unpack into files in the current directory, because this is inconvenient
1289 if the user happens to unpack into a directory with other files in it.
1291 Here is how the @file{Makefile} for Bison creates the tar file.
1292 This method is good for other programs.
1296 echo bison-`sed -e '/version_string/!d' \
1297 -e 's/[^0-9.]*\([0-9.]*\).*/\1/' -e q version.c` > .fname
1298 -rm -rf `cat .fname`
1300 dst=`cat .fname`; for f in $(DISTFILES); do \
1301 ln $(srcdir)/$$f $$dst/$$f || @{ echo copying $$f; \
1302 cp -p $(srcdir)/$$f $$dst/$$f ; @} \
1304 tar --gzip -chf `cat .fname`.tar.gz `cat .fname`
1305 -rm -rf `cat .fname` .fname
1308 Source files that are symbolic links to other file systems cannot be
1309 installed in the temporary directory using @code{ln}, so use @code{cp}
1313 Using Automake is a good way to take care of writing the @code{dist}
1316 @node Distribution Patches
1317 @section Distribution Patches
1318 @cindex patches, against previous releases
1320 If the program is large, it is useful to make a set of diffs for each
1321 release, against the previous important release.
1323 At the front of the set of diffs, put a short explanation of which
1324 version this is for and which previous version it is relative to.
1325 Also explain what else people need to do to update the sources
1326 properly (for example, delete or rename certain files before
1327 installing the diffs).
1329 The purpose of having diffs is that they are small. To keep them
1330 small, exclude files that the user can easily update. For example,
1331 exclude info files, DVI files, tags tables, output files of Bison or
1332 Flex. In Emacs diffs, we exclude compiled Lisp files, leaving it up
1333 to the installer to recompile the patched sources.
1335 When you make the diffs, each version should be in a directory suitably
1336 named---for example, @file{gcc-2.3.2} and @file{gcc-2.3.3}. This way,
1337 it will be very clear from the diffs themselves which version is which.
1341 @cindex time stamp in diffs
1342 If you use GNU @code{diff} to make the patch, use the options
1343 @samp{-rc2P}. That will put any new files into the output as ``entirely
1344 different''. Also, the patch's context diff headers should have dates
1345 and times in Universal Time using traditional Unix format, so that patch
1346 recipients can use GNU @code{patch}'s @samp{-Z} option. For example,
1347 you could use the following Bourne shell command to create the patch:
1350 LC_ALL=C TZ=UTC0 diff -rc2P gcc-2.3.2 gcc-2.3.3 | \
1351 gzip -9 >gcc-2.3.2-2.3.3.patch.gz
1354 If the distribution has subdirectories in it, then the diffs probably
1355 include some files in the subdirectories. To help users install such
1356 patches reliably, give them precise directions for how to run patch.
1357 For example, say this:
1360 To apply these patches, cd to the main directory of the program
1361 and then use `patch -p1'. `-p1' avoids guesswork in choosing
1362 which subdirectory to find each file in.
1365 It's wise to test your patch by applying it to a copy of the old
1366 version, and checking that the result exactly matches the new version.
1369 @node Distribution on ftp.gnu.org
1370 @section Distribution on @code{ftp.gnu.org}
1371 @cindex GNU ftp site
1372 @cindex @code{ftp.gnu.org}, the GNU release site
1374 We strongly recommend using @code{ftp.gnu.org} to distribute official
1375 releases. If you want to also distribute the package from a site of
1376 your own, that is fine. To use some other site instead of
1377 @code{ftp.gnu.org} is acceptable, provided it allows connections from
1380 @xref{Automated FTP Uploads}, for the procedural details of putting
1381 new versions on @code{ftp.gnu.org}.
1385 @section Test Releases
1386 @cindex test releases
1387 @cindex beta releases
1388 @cindex pretest releases
1390 @cindex @code{alpha.gnu.org}, test release site
1391 When you release a greatly changed new major version of a program, you
1392 might want to do so as a pretest. This means that you make a tar file,
1393 but send it only to a group of volunteers that you have recruited. (Use
1394 a suitable GNU mailing list/newsgroup to recruit them.)
1396 We normally use the server @code{alpha.gnu.org} for pretests and
1397 prerelease versions. @xref{Automated FTP Uploads}, for the procedural
1398 details of putting new versions on @code{alpha.gnu.org}.
1400 Once a program gets to be widely used and people expect it to work
1401 solidly, it is a good idea to do pretest releases before each ``real''
1404 There are two ways of handling version numbers for pretest versions.
1405 One method is to treat them as versions preceding the release you are going
1408 In this method, if you are about to release version 4.6 but you want
1409 to do a pretest first, call it 4.5.90. If you need a second pretest,
1410 call it 4.5.91, and so on. If you are really unlucky and ten pretests
1411 are not enough, after 4.5.99 you could advance to 4.5.990 and so on.
1412 (You could also use 4.5.100, but 990 has the advantage of sorting in
1415 The other method is to attach a date to the release number that is
1416 coming. For a pretest for version 4.6, made on Dec 10, 2002, this
1417 would be 4.6.20021210. A second pretest made the same day could be
1420 For development snapshots that are not formal pretests, using just
1421 the date without the version numbers is ok too.
1423 One thing that you should never do is to release a pretest with the same
1424 version number as the planned real release. Many people will look only
1425 at the version number (in the tar file name, in the directory name that
1426 it unpacks into, or wherever they can find it) to determine whether a
1427 tar file is the latest version. People might look at the test release
1428 in this way and mistake it for the real release. Therefore, always
1429 change the number when you release changed code.
1432 @node Automated FTP Uploads
1433 @section Automated FTP Uploads
1435 @cindex ftp uploads, automated
1436 In order to upload new releases to @code{ftp.gnu.org} or
1437 @code{alpha.gnu.org}, you first need to register the necessary
1438 information. Then, you can perform uploads yourself, with no
1439 intervention needed by the system administrators.
1441 The general idea is that releases should be cryptographically signed
1442 before they are made publicly available.
1445 * Automated Upload Registration::
1446 * Automated Upload Procedure::
1447 * FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1::
1448 * FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0::
1452 @node Automated Upload Registration
1453 @subsection Automated Upload Registration
1455 @cindex registration for uploads
1456 @cindex uploads, registration for
1458 Here is how to register your information so you can perform uploads
1459 for your GNU package:
1464 Create an account for yourself at @url{http://savannah.gnu.org}, if
1465 you don't already have one. By the way, this is also needed to
1466 maintain the web pages at @url{http://www.gnu.org} for your project
1467 (@pxref{Web Pages}).
1470 In the @samp{My Account Conf} page on @code{savannah}, upload the GPG
1471 key you will use to sign your packages. If you haven't created one
1472 before, you can do so with the command @code{gpg --gen-key} (you can
1473 accept all the default answers to its questions).
1475 Optional but recommended: Send your key to a GPG public key server:
1476 @code{gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --send-keys @var{keyid}}, where
1477 @var{keyid} is the eight hex digits reported by @code{gpg
1478 --list-public-keys} on the @code{pub} line before the date. For full
1479 information about GPG, see @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/gpg}.
1482 Compose a message with the following items in some @var{msgfile}.
1483 Then GPG-sign it by running @code{gpg --clearsign @var{msgfile}}, and
1484 finally email the resulting @file{@var{msgfile}.asc} to
1485 @email{ftp-upload@@gnu.org}.
1489 Name of package(s) that you are the maintainer for, your
1490 preferred email address, and your Savannah username.
1493 An ASCII armored copy of your GPG key, as an attachment. (@samp{gpg
1494 --export -a @var{your_key_id} >mykey.asc} should give you this.)
1497 A list of names and preferred email addresses of other individuals you
1498 authorize to make releases for which packages, if any (in the case that you
1499 don't make all releases yourself).
1502 ASCII armored copies of GPG keys for any individuals listed in (3).
1506 The administrators will acknowledge your message when they have added
1507 the proper GPG keys as authorized to upload files for the
1508 corresponding packages.
1510 The upload system will email receipts to the given email addresses
1511 when an upload is made, either successfully or unsuccessfully.
1514 @node Automated Upload Procedure
1515 @subsection Automated Upload Procedure
1519 Once you have registered your information as described in the previous
1520 section, you will be able to do ftp uploads for yourself using the
1521 following procedure.
1523 For each upload destined for @code{ftp.gnu.org} or
1524 @code{alpha.gnu.org}, three files (a @dfn{triplet}) need to be
1525 uploaded via ftp to the host @code{ftp-upload.gnu.org}.
1529 The file to be distributed; for example, @file{foo.tar.gz}.
1532 Detached GPG binary signature file for (1); for example,
1533 @file{foo.tar.gz.sig}. Make this with @samp{gpg -b foo.tar.gz}.
1536 A clearsigned @dfn{directive file}; for example,
1537 @file{foo.tar.gz.directive.asc}. Make this by preparing the plain
1538 text file @file{foo.tar.gz.directive} and then run @samp{gpg
1539 --clearsign foo.tar.gz.directive}. @xref{FTP Upload Directive File -
1540 v1.1}, for the contents of the directive file.
1543 The names of the files are important. The signature file must have the
1544 same name as the file to be distributed, with an additional
1545 @file{.sig} extension. The directive file must have the same name as
1546 the file to be distributed, with an additional @file{.directive.asc}
1547 extension. If you do not follow this naming convention, the upload
1548 @emph{will not be processed}.
1550 Since v1.1 of the upload script, it is also possible to upload a
1551 clearsigned directive file on its own (no accompanying @file{.sig} or
1552 any other file) to perform certain operations on the server.
1553 @xref{FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1}, for more information.
1555 Upload the file(s) via anonymous ftp to @code{ftp-upload.gnu.org}. If
1556 the upload is destined for @code{ftp.gnu.org}, place the file(s) in
1557 the @file{/incoming/ftp} directory. If the upload is destined for
1558 @code{alpha.gnu.org}, place the file(s) in the @file{/incoming/alpha}
1561 Uploads are processed every five minutes. Uploads that are in
1562 progress while the upload processing script is running are handled
1563 properly, so do not worry about the timing of your upload. Uploaded
1564 files that belong to an incomplete triplet are deleted automatically
1567 Your designated upload email addresses (@pxref{Automated Upload Registration})
1568 are sent a message if there are any problems processing an upload for your
1569 package. You also receive a message when your upload has been successfully
1572 One automated way to create and transfer the necessary files is to use
1573 the @code{gnupload} script, which is available from the
1574 @file{build-aux/} directory of the @code{gnulib} project at
1575 @url{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib}. @code{gnupload} can
1576 also remove uploaded files. Run @code{gnupload --help} for a
1577 description and examples.
1579 @code{gnupload} uses the @code{ncftpput} program to do the actual
1580 transfers; if you don't happen to have the @code{ncftp} package
1581 installed, the @code{ncftpput-ftp} script in the @file{build-aux/}
1582 directory of @code{gnulib} serves as a replacement which uses plain
1583 command line @code{ftp}.
1585 If you have difficulties with an upload, email
1586 @email{ftp-upload@@gnu.org}. You can check the archive of uploads
1588 @url{https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/ftp-upload-report}.
1591 @node FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1
1592 @subsection FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1
1594 The directive file name must end in @file{directive.asc}.
1596 When part of a triplet, the directive file must always contain the
1597 directives @code{version}, @code{directory} and @code{filename}, as
1598 described. In addition, a 'comment' directive is allowed.
1600 The @code{version} directive must always have the value @samp{1.1}.
1602 The @code{directory} directive specifies the final destination
1603 directory where the uploaded file and its @file{.sig} companion are to
1606 The @code{filename} directive must contain the name of the file to be
1607 distributed (item@tie{}(1) above).
1609 For example, as part of an uploaded triplet, a
1610 @file{foo.tar.gz.directive.asc} file might contain these lines (before
1611 being gpg clearsigned):
1616 filename: foo.tar.gz
1617 comment: hello world!
1620 This directory line indicates that @file{foo.tar.gz} and
1621 @file{foo.tar.gz.sig} are part of package @code{bar}. If you uploaded
1622 this triplet to @file{/incoming/ftp} and the system positively
1623 authenticates the signatures, the files @file{foo.tar.gz} and
1624 @file{foo.tar.gz.sig} will be placed in the directory
1625 @file{gnu/bar/v1} of the @code{ftp.gnu.org} site.
1627 The directive file can be used to create currently non-existent
1628 directory trees, as long as they are under the package directory for
1629 your package (in the example above, that is @code{bar}).
1631 If you upload a file that already exists in the FTP directory, the
1632 original will simply be archived and replaced with the new upload.
1634 @subheading Standalone directives
1636 When uploaded by itself, the directive file must contain one or more
1637 of the directives @code{symlink}, @code{rmsymlink} or @code{archive},
1638 in addition to the obligatory @code{directory} and @code{version}
1639 directives. A @code{filename} directive is not allowed, and a
1640 @code{comment} directive remains optional.
1642 If you use more than one directive, the directives are executed in the
1643 sequence they are specified in. If a directive results in an error,
1644 further execution of the upload is aborted.
1646 Removing a symbolic link (with @code{rmsymlink}) which does not exist
1647 results in an error. However, attempting to create a symbolic link
1648 that already exists (with @code{symlink}) is not an error. In this
1649 case @code{symlink} behaves like the command @command{ln -s -f}: any
1650 existing symlink is removed before creating the link. (But an
1651 existing regular file or directory is not removed.)
1653 Here are a few examples. The first removes a symlink:
1658 rmsymlink: foo-latest.tgz
1659 comment: remove a symlink
1663 Archive an old file, taking it offline:
1668 archive: foo-1.1.tar.gz
1669 comment: archive an old file; it will not be
1670 comment: available through FTP any more.
1674 Archive an old directory (with all contents), taking it offline:
1680 comment: archive an old directory; it and its entire
1681 comment: contents will not be available through FTP anymore
1685 Create a new symlink:
1690 symlink: foo-1.2.tar.gz foo-latest.tgz
1691 comment: create a new symlink
1695 Do everything at once:
1700 rmsymlink: foo-latest.tgz
1701 symlink: foo-1.2.tar.gz foo-latest.tgz
1702 archive: foo-1.1.tar.gz
1703 comment: now do everything at once
1707 @node FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0
1708 @subsection FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0
1710 @dfn{As of June 2006, the upload script is running in compatibility
1711 mode, allowing uploads with either version@tie{}1.1 or
1712 version@tie{}1.0 of the directive file syntax. Support for v1.0
1713 uploads will be phased out by the end of 2006, so please upgrade
1716 The directive file should contain one line, excluding the clearsigned
1717 data GPG that inserts, which specifies the final destination directory
1718 where items (1) and (2) are to be placed.
1720 For example, the @file{foo.tar.gz.directive.asc} file might contain the
1727 This directory line indicates that @file{foo.tar.gz} and
1728 @file{foo.tar.gz.sig} are part of package @code{bar}. If you were to
1729 upload the triplet to @file{/incoming/ftp}, and the system can
1730 positively authenticate the signatures, then the files
1731 @file{foo.tar.gz} and @file{foo.tar.gz.sig} will be placed in the
1732 directory @file{gnu/bar/v1} of the @code{ftp.gnu.org} site.
1734 The directive file can be used to create currently non-existent
1735 directory trees, as long as they are under the package directory for
1736 your package (in the example above, that is @code{bar}).
1740 @section Announcing Releases
1741 @cindex announcements
1743 @cindex @code{info-gnu} mailing list
1744 When you have a new release, please make an announcement. For
1745 official new releases, including those made just to fix bugs, we
1746 strongly recommend using the (moderated) general GNU announcements
1747 list, @email{info-gnu@@gnu.org}. Doing so makes it easier for users
1748 and developers to find the latest GNU releases. On the other hand,
1749 please do not announce test releases on @code{info-gnu} unless it's a
1750 highly unusual situation.
1752 @cindex @url{http://planet.gnu.org}
1753 @cindex Savannah, news area
1754 Please also post release announcements in the news section of your
1755 Savannah project site. Here, it is fine to also write news entries
1756 for test releases and any other newsworthy events. The news feeds
1757 from all GNU projects at savannah are aggregated at
1758 @url{http://planet.gnu.org} (GNU Planet). You can also post items
1759 directly, or arrange for feeds from other locations; see information
1760 on the GNU Planet web page.
1762 @cindex announcement mailing list, project-specific
1763 You can maintain your own mailing list (typically
1764 @indicateurl{info-@var{package}@@gnu.org}) for announcements as well if you
1765 like. For your own list, of course you decide as you see fit what
1766 events are worth announcing. (@xref{Mail}, for setting this up, and
1767 more suggestions on handling mail for your package.)
1769 @cindex contents of announcements
1770 When writing an announcement, please include the following:
1774 A very brief description (a few sentences at most) of the general
1775 purpose of your package.
1778 Your package's web page (normally
1779 @indicateurl{http://www.gnu.org/software/@var{package}/}).
1782 Your package's download location (normally
1783 @indicateurl{http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/@var{package}/}). It is also
1784 useful to mention the mirror list at
1785 @url{http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html}, and that
1786 @indicateurl{http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/@var{package/}} will automatically
1787 redirect to a nearby mirror.
1790 The @t{NEWS} (@pxref{NEWS File,,, standards, GNU Coding Standards}) for
1791 the present release.
1799 Please write web pages about your package, and install them on
1800 @code{www.gnu.org}. They should follow our usual standards for web
1801 pages (see @url{http://www.gnu.org/server/@/fsf-html-style-sheet.html}).
1802 The overall goals are to support a wide variety of browsers, to focus
1803 on information rather than flashy eye candy, and to keep the site
1806 We encourage you to use the standard @code{www.gnu.org} template as
1807 the basis for your pages:
1808 @url{http://www.gnu.org/server/@/standards/@/boilerplate-source.html}.
1810 Some GNU packages have just simple web pages, but the more information
1811 you provide, the better. So please write as much as you usefully can,
1812 and put all of it on @code{www.gnu.org}. However, pages that access
1813 databases (including mail archives and bug tracking) are an exception;
1814 set them up on whatever site is convenient for you, and make the pages
1815 on @code{www.gnu.org} link to that site.
1818 * Hosting for Web Pages::
1819 * Freedom for Web Pages::
1820 * Manuals on Web Pages::
1821 * CVS Keywords in Web Pages::
1825 @node Hosting for Web Pages
1826 @section Hosting for Web Pages
1828 The best way to maintain the web pages for your project is to register
1829 the project on @code{savannah.gnu.org}. Then you can edit the pages
1830 using CVS, using the separate ``web repository'' available on
1831 Savannah, which corresponds to
1832 @indicateurl{http://www.gnu.org/software/@var{package}/}. You can
1833 keep your source files there too (using any of a variety of version
1834 control systems), but you can use @code{savannah.gnu.org} only for
1835 your gnu.org web pages if you wish; simply register a ``web-only''
1838 If you don't want to use that method, please talk with
1839 @email{webmasters@@gnu.org} about other possible methods. For
1840 instance, you can mail them pages to install, if necessary. But that
1841 is more work for them, so please use Savannah if you can.
1843 If you use Savannah, you can use a special file named @file{.symlinks}
1844 in order to create symbolic links, which are not supported in CVS.
1846 @url{http://www.gnu.org/server/standards/README.webmastering.html#symlinks}.
1849 @node Freedom for Web Pages
1850 @section Freedom for Web Pages
1852 If you use a site other than @code{www.gnu.org}, please make sure that
1853 the site runs on free software alone. (It is ok if the site uses
1854 unreleased custom software, since that is free in a trivial sense:
1855 there's only one user and it has the four freedoms.) If the web site
1856 for a GNU package runs on non-free software, the public will see this,
1857 and it will have the effect of granting legitimacy to the non-free
1860 If you use multiple sites, they should all follow that criterion.
1861 Please don't link to a site that is about your package, which the
1862 public might perceive as connected with it and reflecting the position
1863 of its developers, unless it follows that criterion.
1865 Historically, web pages for GNU packages did not include GIF images,
1866 because of patent problems (@pxref{Ethical and Philosophical
1867 Consideration}). Although the GIF patents expired in 2006, using GIF
1868 images is still not recommended, as the PNG and JPEG formats are
1869 generally superior. See @url{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html}.
1872 @node Manuals on Web Pages
1873 @section Manuals on Web Pages
1875 The web pages for the package should include its manuals, in HTML,
1876 DVI, Info, PostScript, PDF, plain ASCII, and Texinfo format (source).
1877 All of these can be generated automatically from the Texinfo source
1878 using Makeinfo and other programs.
1880 When there is only one manual, put it in a subdirectory called
1881 @file{manual}; the file @file{manual/index.html} should have a link to
1882 the manual in each of its forms.
1884 If the package has more than one manual, put each one in a
1885 subdirectory of @file{manual}, set up @file{index.html} in each
1886 subdirectory to link to that manual in all its forms, and make
1887 @file{manual/index.html} link to each manual through its subdirectory.
1889 See the section below for details on a script to make the job of
1890 creating all these different formats and index pages easier.
1892 We would like to list all GNU manuals on the page
1893 @url{http://www.gnu.org/manual}, so if yours isn't there, please send
1894 mail to @code{webmasters@@gnu.org}, asking them to add yours, and they
1895 will do so based on the contents of your @file{manual} directory.
1898 * Invoking gendocs.sh::
1902 @node Invoking gendocs.sh
1903 @subsection Invoking @command{gendocs.sh}
1905 @cindex generating documentation output
1907 The script @command{gendocs.sh} eases the task of generating the
1908 Texinfo documentation output for your web pages
1909 section above. It has a companion template file, used as the basis
1910 for the HTML index pages. Both are available from the Texinfo CVS
1914 @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs.sh}
1915 @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template}
1918 There is also a minimalistic template, available from:
1921 @uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template_min}
1924 Invoke the script like this, in the directory containing the Texinfo
1928 gendocs.sh --email @var{yourbuglist} @var{yourmanual} "GNU @var{yourmanual} manual"
1931 @noindent where @var{yourmanual} is the short name for your package
1932 and @var{yourbuglist} is the email address for bug reports (which
1933 should be @code{bug-@var{package}@@gnu.org}). The script processes
1934 the file @file{@var{yourmanual}.texinfo} (or @file{.texi} or
1935 @file{.txi}). For example:
1939 # download gendocs.sh and gendocs_template
1940 gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@@gnu.org texinfo "GNU Texinfo manual"
1943 @command{gendocs.sh} creates a subdirectory @file{manual/} containing
1944 the manual generated in all the standard output formats: Info, HTML,
1945 DVI, and so on, as well as the Texinfo source. You then need to move
1946 all those files, retaining the subdirectories, into the web pages for
1949 You can specify the option @option{-o @var{outdir}} to override the
1950 name @file{manual}. Any previous contents of @var{outdir} will be deleted.
1952 The second argument, with the description, is included as part of the
1953 HTML @code{<title>} of the overall @file{manual/index.html} file. It
1954 should include the name of the package being documented, as shown.
1955 @file{manual/index.html} is created by substitution from the file
1956 @file{gendocs_template}. (Feel free to modify the generic template
1957 for your own purposes.)
1959 If you have several manuals, you'll need to run this script several
1960 times with different arguments, specifying a different output
1961 directory with @option{-o} each time, and moving all the output to
1962 your web page. Then write (by hand) an overall index.html with links
1963 to them all. For example:
1967 gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@@gnu.org -o texinfo texinfo "GNU Texinfo manual"
1968 gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@@gnu.org -o info info "GNU Info manual"
1969 gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@@gnu.org -o info-stnd info-stnd "GNU info-stnd manual"
1972 By default, the script uses @command{makeinfo} for generating
1973 @acronym{HTML} output. If you prefer to use @command{texi2html}, use
1974 the @option{--texi2html} command line option, e.g.:
1977 gendocs --texi2html -o texinfo texinfo "GNU Texinfo manual"
1980 The template files will automatically produce entries for additional
1981 HTML output generated by @command{texi2html} (i.e., split by sections
1984 You can set the environment variables @env{MAKEINFO}, @env{TEXI2DVI},
1985 @env{TEXI2HTML} and @env{DVIPS} to control the programs that get
1986 executed, and @env{GENDOCS_TEMPLATE_DIR} to control where the
1987 @file{gendocs_template} file is found.
1989 As usual, run @samp{gendocs.sh --help} for a description of all the
1990 options, environment variables, and more information.
1992 Please email bug reports, enhancement requests, or other
1993 correspondence to @email{bug-texinfo@@gnu.org}.
1996 @node CVS Keywords in Web Pages
1997 @section CVS Keywords in Web Pages
1998 @cindex CVS keywords in web pages
1999 @cindex RCS keywords in web pages
2000 @cindex $ keywords in web pages
2001 @cindex web pages, and CVS keywords
2003 Since @code{www.gnu.org} works through CVS, CVS keywords in your
2004 manual, such as @code{@w{$}Log$}, need special treatment (even if you
2005 don't happen to maintain your manual in CVS).
2007 If these keywords end up in the generated output as literal strings,
2008 they will be expanded. The most robust way to handle this is to turn
2009 off keyword expansion for such generated files. For existing files,
2013 cvs admin -ko @var{file1} @var{file2} ...
2020 cvs add -ko @var{file1} @var{file2} ...
2023 @c The CVS manual is now built with numeric references and no nonsplit
2024 @c form, so it's not worth trying to give a direct link.
2025 See the ``Keyword Substitution'' section in the CVS manual, available
2026 at @url{http://ximbiot.com/cvs/manual}.
2028 In Texinfo source, the recommended way to literally specify a
2029 ``dollar'' keyword is:
2035 The @code{@@w} prevents keyword expansion in the Texinfo source
2036 itself. Also, @code{makeinfo} notices the @code{@@w} and generates
2037 output avoiding the literal keyword string.
2040 @node Ethical and Philosophical Consideration
2041 @chapter Ethical and Philosophical Consideration
2045 The GNU project takes a strong stand for software freedom. Many
2046 times, this means you'll need to avoid certain technologies when their
2047 use would conflict with our long-term goals.
2049 Software patents threaten the advancement of free software and freedom
2050 to program. There are so many software patents in the US that any
2051 large program probably implements hundreds of patented techniques,
2052 unknown to the program's developers. It would be futile and
2053 self-defeating to try to find and avoid all these patents. But there
2054 are some patents which we know are likely to be used to threaten free
2055 software, so we make an effort to avoid the patented techniques. If
2056 you are concerned about the danger of a patent and would like advice,
2057 write to @email{licensing@@gnu.org}, and we will try to help you get
2058 advice from a lawyer.
2060 Sometimes the GNU project takes a strong stand against a particular
2061 patented technology in order to encourage society to reject it.
2063 For example, the MP3 audio format is covered by a software patent in
2064 the USA and some other countries. A patent holder has threatened
2065 lawsuits against the developers of free programs (these are not GNU
2066 programs) to produce and play MP3, and some GNU/Linux distributors are
2067 afraid to include them. Development of the programs continues, but we
2068 campaign for the rejection of MP3 format in favor of Ogg Vorbis format.
2070 A GNU package should not recommend use of any non-free program, nor
2071 should it require a non-free program (such as a non-free compiler or
2072 IDE) to build. Thus, a GNU package cannot be written in a programming
2073 language that does not have a free software implementation. Now that
2074 GNU/Linux systems are widely available, all GNU packages should
2075 provide full functionality on a 100% free GNU/Linux system, and should
2076 not require any non-free software to build or function.
2077 The GNU Coding Standards say a lot more about this issue.
2079 A GNU package should not refer the user to any non-free documentation
2080 for free software. The need for free documentation to come with free
2081 software is now a major focus of the GNU project; to show that we are
2082 serious about the need for free documentation, we must not contradict
2083 our position by recommending use of documentation that isn't free.
2085 Finally, new issues concerning the ethics of software freedom come up
2086 frequently. We ask that GNU maintainers, at least on matters that
2087 pertain specifically to their package, stand with the rest of the GNU
2088 project when such issues come up.
2092 @chapter Terminology Issues
2095 This chapter explains a couple of issues of terminology which are
2096 important for correcting two widespread and important misunderstandings
2100 * Free Software and Open Source::
2104 @node Free Software and Open Source
2105 @section Free Software and Open Source
2106 @cindex free software movement
2108 @cindex movement, free software
2109 @cindex development method, open source
2111 The terms ``free software'' and ``open source'', while describing
2112 almost the same category of software, stand for views based on
2113 fundamentally different values. The free software movement is
2114 idealistic, and raises issues of freedom, ethics, principle and what
2115 makes for a good society. The term open source, initiated in 1998, is
2116 associated with a philosophy which studiously avoids such questions.
2117 For a detailed explanation, see
2118 @url{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html}.
2120 The GNU Project is aligned with the free software movement. This
2121 doesn't mean that all GNU contributors and maintainers have to agree;
2122 your views on these issues are up to you, and you're entitled to express
2123 them when speaking for yourself.
2125 However, due to the much greater publicity that the term ``open source''
2126 receives, the GNU Project needs to overcome a widespread
2127 mistaken impression that GNU is @emph{and always was} an ``open
2128 source'' activity. For this reason, please use the term ``free
2129 software'', not ``open source'', in GNU software releases, GNU
2130 documentation, and announcements and articles that you publish in your
2131 role as the maintainer of a GNU package. A reference to the URL given
2132 above, to explain the difference, is a useful thing to include as
2137 @section GNU and Linux
2141 The GNU Project was formed to develop a free Unix-like operating system,
2142 GNU. The existence of this system is our major accomplishment.
2143 However, the widely used version of the GNU system, in which Linux is
2144 used as the kernel, is often called simply ``Linux''. As a result, most
2145 users don't know about the GNU Project's major accomplishment---or more
2146 precisely, they know about it, but don't realize it is the GNU Project's
2147 accomplishment and reason for existence. Even people who believe they
2148 know the real history often believe that the goal of GNU was to develop
2149 ``tools'' or ``utilities''.
2151 To correct this confusion, we have made a years-long effort to
2152 distinguish between Linux, the kernel that Linus Torvalds wrote, and
2153 GNU/Linux, the operating system that is the combination of GNU and
2154 Linux. The resulting increased awareness of what the GNU Project has
2155 already done helps every activity of the GNU Project recruit more
2156 support and contributors.
2158 Please make this distinction consistently in GNU software releases, GNU
2159 documentation, and announcements and articles that you publish in your
2160 role as the maintainer of a GNU package. If you want to explain the
2161 terminology and its reasons, you can refer to the URL
2162 @url{http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html}.
2164 To make it clear that Linux is a kernel, not an operating system,
2165 please take care to avoid using the term ``Linux system'' in those
2166 materials. If you want to have occasion to make a statement about
2167 systems in which the kernel is Linux, write ``systems in which the
2168 kernel is Linux'' or ``systems with Linux as the kernel.'' That
2169 explicitly contrasts the system and the kernel, and will help readers
2170 understand the difference between the two. Please avoid simplified
2171 forms such as ``Linux-based systems'' because those fail to highlight
2172 the difference between the kernel and the system, and could encourage
2173 readers to overlook the distinction.
2175 To contrast the GNU system properly with respect to GNU/Linux, you can
2176 call it ``GNU/Hurd'' or ``the GNU/Hurd system''. However, when that
2177 contrast is not specifically the focus, please call it just ``GNU'' or
2180 When referring to the collection of servers that is the higher level
2181 of the GNU kernel, please call it ``the Hurd'' or ``the GNU Hurd''.
2182 Note that this uses a space, not a slash.
2187 @cindex CVS repository
2189 @cindex source repository
2190 @cindex version control system
2192 @cindex release site
2195 We recommend using @code{savannah.gnu.org} for the source code
2196 repository for your package, but that's not required. @xref{Old
2197 Versions}, for more information about Savannah.
2199 We strongly urge you to use @code{ftp.gnu.org} as the standard
2200 distribution site for releases. Doing so makes it easier for
2201 developers and users to find the latest GNU releases. However, it is
2202 ok to use another server if you wish, provided it allows access from
2203 the general public without limitation (for instance, without excluding
2206 If you use a company's machine to hold the repository for your
2207 program, or as its release distribution site, please put this
2208 statement in a prominent place on the site, so as to prevent people
2209 from getting the wrong idea about the relationship between the package
2213 The programs <list of them> hosted here are free software packages
2214 of the GNU Project, not products of <company name>. We call them
2215 "free software" because you are free to copy and redistribute them,
2216 following the rules stated in the license of each package. For more
2217 information, see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html.
2219 If you are looking for service or support for GNU software, see
2220 http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/ for suggestions of where to ask.
2222 If you would like to contribute to the development of one of these
2223 packages, contact the package maintainer or the bug-reporting address
2224 of the package (which should be listed in the package itself), or look
2225 on www.gnu.org for more information on how to contribute.
2231 @cindex Donations, for packages
2232 @cindex Money, donated to packages
2234 As a maintainer, you might want to accept donations for your work,
2235 especially if you pay for any of your own hosting/development
2236 infrastructure. Following is some text you can adapt to your own
2237 situation, and use on your package's web site, @file{README}, or
2238 in wherever way you find it useful:
2241 We appreciate contributions of any size -- donations enable us to spend
2242 more time working on the project, and help cover our infrastructure
2245 If you'd like to make a small donation, please visit @var{url1} and do
2246 it through @var{payment-service}. Since our project isn't a
2247 tax-exempt organization, we can't offer you a tax deduction, but for
2248 all donations over @var{amount1}, we'd be happy to recognize your
2249 contribution on @var{url2}.
2251 We are also happy to consider making particular improvements or
2252 changes, or giving specific technical assistance, in return for a
2253 substantial donation over @var{amount2}. If you would like to discuss
2254 this possibility, write to us at @var{address}.
2256 Another possibility is to pay a software maintenance fee. Again,
2257 write to us about this at @var{address} to discuss how much you want
2258 to pay and how much maintenance we can offer in return. If you pay
2259 more than @var{amount1}, we can give you a document for your records.
2261 Thanks for your support!
2264 We don't recommend any specific payment service. However, GNU
2265 developers should not use a service that requires them to sign a
2266 proprietary software license, such as Google's payment service.
2268 Of course, it is also good to encourage people to join or contribute
2269 to the FSF (@url{http://www.fsf.org}), either instead of or as well as
2270 package-specific donations.
2273 @node Free Software Directory
2274 @chapter Free Software Directory
2275 @cindex Free Software Directory
2276 @cindex Directory, Free Software
2278 The Free Software Directory aims to be a complete list of free
2279 software packages, within certain criteria. Every GNU package should
2280 be listed there, so please see
2281 @url{http://www.gnu.org/help/directory.html#adding-entries} for
2282 information on how to write an entry for your package. Contact
2283 @email{bug-directory@@gnu.org} with any questions or suggestions for
2284 the Free Software Directory.
2287 @node Using the Proofreaders List
2288 @chapter Using the Proofreaders List
2289 @cindex proofreading
2291 If you want help finding errors in documentation,
2292 or help improving the quality of writing,
2293 or if you are not a native speaker of English
2294 and want help producing good English documentation,
2295 you can use the GNU proofreaders mailing list:
2296 @email{proofreaders@@gnu.org}.
2298 But be careful when you use the list,
2299 because there are over 200 people on it.
2300 If you simply ask everyone on the list to read your work,
2301 there will probably be tremendous duplication of effort
2302 by the proofreaders,
2303 and you will probably get the same errors reported 100 times.
2304 This must be avoided.
2306 Also, the people on the list do not want to get
2307 a large amount of mail from it.
2308 So do not ever ask people on the list to send mail to the list!
2310 Here are a few methods that seem reasonable to use:
2314 For something small, mail it to the list,
2315 and ask people to pick a random number from 1 to 20,
2316 and read it if the number comes out as 10.
2317 This way, assuming 50% response, some 5 people will read the piece.
2320 For a larger work, divide your work into around 20 equal-sized parts,
2321 tell people where to get it,
2322 and ask each person to pick randomly which part to read.
2324 Be sure to specify the random choice procedure;
2325 otherwise people will probably use a mental procedure
2326 that is not really random,
2327 such as ``pick a part near the middle'',
2328 and you will not get even coverage.
2330 You can either divide up the work physically, into 20 separate files,
2331 or describe a virtual division, such as by sections
2332 (if your work has approximately 20 sections).
2333 If you do the latter, be sure to be precise about it---for example,
2334 do you want the material before the first section heading
2335 to count as a section, or not?
2338 For a job needing special skills, send an explanation of it,
2339 and ask people to send you mail if they volunteer for the job.
2340 When you get enough volunteers, send another message to the list saying
2341 ``I have enough volunteers, no more please.''
2345 @node GNU Free Documentation License
2346 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License
2348 @cindex FDL, GNU Free Documentation License
2359 eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'time-stamp)
2360 time-stamp-start: "@set lastupdate "
2361 time-stamp-start: "@set lastupdate "
2363 time-stamp-format: "%:b %:d, %:y"
2364 compile-command: "make -C work.m"