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1 | \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 | @c %**start of header | |
3 | @setfilename tasks.info | |
4 | @settitle GNU Task List | |
fff05d88 | 5 | @c This date is automagically updated when you save this file: |
76eebffc | 6 | @set lastupdate October 11, 2000 |
bb5d4e1a RS |
7 | @c %**end of header |
8 | ||
9 | @setchapternewpage off | |
10 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
11 | @titlepage |
12 | @title GNU Task List | |
d6eb79ad | 13 | @author Free Software Foundation |
bb5d4e1a | 14 | @author last updated @value{lastupdate} |
bb5d4e1a RS |
15 | @end titlepage |
16 | ||
17 | @ifinfo | |
55616d18 | 18 | @node Top, Intro, (dir), (dir) |
d9e60f52 | 19 | @top GNU Task List |
bb5d4e1a | 20 | |
d6eb79ad | 21 | This file is updated automatically from @file{tasks.texi}, which was |
0848ab8f BY |
22 | last updated on @value{lastupdate}. See also |
23 | @uref{http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html#helpgnu} for other suggested | |
24 | tasks. | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
25 | @end ifinfo |
26 | ||
bb5d4e1a | 27 | @menu |
6af1f598 JWI |
28 | * Intro:: |
29 | * Highest Priority:: | |
30 | * Documentation:: | |
31 | * Unix-Related Projects:: | |
32 | * Kernel Projects:: | |
33 | * Extensions:: | |
34 | * X Windows Projects:: | |
35 | * Network Projects:: | |
36 | * Encryption Projects:: | |
37 | * Other Projects:: | |
38 | * Languages:: | |
39 | * Games and Recreations:: | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
40 | @end menu |
41 | ||
6af1f598 | 42 | @node Intro, Highest Priority, Top, Top |
c05524ad RS |
43 | @chapter About the GNU Task List |
44 | ||
7c4978a8 | 45 | If you did not obtain this file directly from the GNU project and |
9459fac1 JG |
46 | recently, please check for a newer version. You can ftp the task list |
47 | from any GNU FTP host in directory @file{/pub/gnu/tasks/}. The task | |
7c4978a8 | 48 | list is available there in several different formats: @file{tasks.text}, |
541d49e1 JG |
49 | @file{tasks.texi}, @file{tasks.info}, and @file{tasks.dvi}. The GNU |
50 | HURD task list is also there in file @file{tasks.hurd}. | |
51 | @c to fix an overfill, join the paragraphs -len | |
7c4978a8 | 52 | The task list is also available on the GNU World Wide Web server: |
fff05d88 | 53 | @uref{http://www.gnu.org/prep/tasks_toc.html}. |
c05524ad | 54 | |
fff05d88 | 55 | If you start working steadily on a project, please let @email{gvc@@gnu.org} |
d9e60f52 DM |
56 | know. We might have information that could help you; we'd also like to |
57 | send you the GNU coding standards. | |
bb5d4e1a | 58 | |
c05524ad RS |
59 | Because of the natural tendency for most volunteers to write programming |
60 | tools or programming languages, we have a comparative shortage of | |
61 | applications useful for non-programmer users. Therefore, we ask you to | |
62 | consider writing such a program. | |
bb5d4e1a | 63 | |
d17fd035 RS |
64 | Typically, a new program that does a completely new job advances |
65 | the GNU project, and the free software community, more than an | |
66 | improvement to an existing program. | |
67 | ||
68 | Typically, new features or new programs advance the free software | |
69 | community more, in the long run, than porting existing programs. One | |
70 | reason is that portable new features and programs benefit people on many | |
71 | platforms, not just one. At the same time, there tend to be many | |
72 | volunteers for porting---so your help will be more valuable in other | |
73 | areas, where volunteers are more scarce. | |
74 | ||
75 | Typically, it is more useful to extend a program in functionality than | |
76 | to improve performance. Users who use the new functionality will | |
77 | appreciate it very much, if they use it; but even when they benefit from | |
78 | a performance improvement, they may not consider it very important. | |
bb5d4e1a | 79 | |
76eebffc GM |
80 | Finally, if you think of an important job that free software cannot |
81 | solve yet that is typically solved by proprietary software, please send | |
82 | a short description of that job to @email{tasks@@gnu.org} so that we can | |
83 | add it to this task list. | |
84 | ||
6af1f598 | 85 | @node Highest Priority, Documentation, Intro, Top |
7c4978a8 RS |
86 | @chapter Highest Priority |
87 | ||
88 | This task list mentions a large number of tasks that would be more or | |
89 | less useful. With luck, at least one of them will inspire you to start | |
90 | writing. It's better for you to work on any task that inspires you than | |
91 | not write free software at all. | |
92 | ||
93 | But if you would like to work on what we need most, here is a list of | |
94 | high priority projects. | |
95 | ||
96 | @itemize @bullet | |
76eebffc GM |
97 | |
98 | @item | |
99 | A new maintainer is needed for Goose | |
100 | @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/goose/goose.html}. | |
101 | ||
7c4978a8 | 102 | @item |
632c6364 | 103 | If you are good at writing documentation, please do that. |
7c4978a8 RS |
104 | |
105 | @item | |
106 | If you are very good at C programming and interested in kernels, you can | |
541d49e1 | 107 | help develop the GNU HURD, the kernel for the GNU system. Please have a |
fff05d88 | 108 | look at @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html}, and |
541d49e1 JG |
109 | then get a copy of the latest HURD task list from: |
110 | ||
111 | @itemize @bullet | |
112 | ||
113 | @item | |
fff05d88 | 114 | @uref{http://www.gnu.org/prep/tasks.hurd.html}, via the World Wide |
541d49e1 JG |
115 | Web. |
116 | ||
117 | @item | |
fff05d88 | 118 | @uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/tasks/tasks.hurd}, via anonymous FTP. |
541d49e1 JG |
119 | |
120 | @item | |
76eebffc | 121 | @email{gvc@@gnu.org} via e-mail. |
541d49e1 JG |
122 | |
123 | @end itemize | |
7c4978a8 RS |
124 | |
125 | @item | |
541d49e1 | 126 | If you are a Scheme fan, you can help develop Guile. Please have a look |
fff05d88 RS |
127 | at the URL @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/guile.html} |
128 | and then contact the Guile developers at @email{guile@@gnu.org}. | |
7c4978a8 | 129 | |
76eebffc GM |
130 | @item |
131 | Improve the facilities for translating other languages into Scheme, | |
132 | so that Guile can provide support for a variety of languages. | |
133 | ||
9dde84c6 RS |
134 | @item |
135 | A package to convert programs written using MS Access into Scheme, | |
136 | making use of a free data base system and the GTK toolkit. | |
137 | ||
acb0ff5c | 138 | @ignore |
7c4978a8 | 139 | @item |
0f82d9d8 | 140 | Help develop XmHTML. See @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~ripley/XmHTML/}. |
acb0ff5c | 141 | @end ignore |
7c4978a8 RS |
142 | |
143 | @item | |
fff05d88 RS |
144 | Help develop software to emulate Windows NT on top of GNU systems. |
145 | For example, you could help work on Willows Twin. | |
0f82d9d8 | 146 | See @uref{http://www.willows.com/}. |
7c4978a8 | 147 | |
76eebffc GM |
148 | @item |
149 | Add gettext support to GNU programs that don't have it already. (Please | |
150 | contact the developers of the specific packages that you want to work | |
151 | on.) | |
152 | ||
f00afe93 RS |
153 | @ignore The Kermit developers say they will provide a free program |
154 | to do this. | |
7c4978a8 RS |
155 | @item |
156 | Implement the Kermit data transfer protocol. (See below.) | |
f00afe93 | 157 | @end ignore |
7c4978a8 | 158 | |
fff05d88 | 159 | @ignore This is being done (Harmony) |
7c4978a8 | 160 | @item |
632c6364 RS |
161 | Develop a free compatible replacement for Qt, a GUI toolkit library. Qt |
162 | is not free software, because users are prohibited from distributing | |
163 | modified versions. Thus, Qt cannot be included in a free operating | |
164 | system (adding it would make the system as a whole non-free). | |
165 | ||
166 | But some developers are writing free applications that use Qt and cannot | |
167 | run without it. These programs, although free software, are useless for | |
168 | free operating systems because there is no way to make them run. | |
169 | ||
170 | This is leading to a serious problem, and a free replacement for Qt is | |
171 | the only solution. Hence the high degree of urgency of this project. | |
fff05d88 RS |
172 | @end ignore |
173 | ||
7c4978a8 RS |
174 | @item |
175 | Develop a substitute, which runs on GNU systems, for some very popular | |
176 | or very important application that many non-programmers use on Windows, | |
177 | and which has no comparable free equivalent now. | |
178 | @end itemize | |
179 | ||
6af1f598 | 180 | @node Documentation, Unix-Related Projects, Highest Priority, Top |
bb5d4e1a RS |
181 | @chapter Documentation |
182 | ||
fff05d88 RS |
183 | We very urgently need documentation for many existing parts of the |
184 | system. | |
185 | ||
186 | Note that there are proprietary manuals for many of these topics, but | |
0f82d9d8 RS |
187 | proprietary manuals do not count, for the same reason proprietary |
188 | software does not count: we are not free to copy and modify them. | |
189 | We do not recommend any non-free materials as documentation. | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
190 | |
191 | @itemize @bullet | |
242621f3 | 192 | @item |
24fad2a2 | 193 | A manual for libstdc++. |
242621f3 | 194 | |
0f82d9d8 RS |
195 | @item |
196 | A unified manual for La@TeX{}. (Existing documentation is non-free.) | |
197 | ||
198 | @item | |
f1679dc8 | 199 | A manual for Docbook SGML format. |
0f82d9d8 RS |
200 | |
201 | @item | |
f1679dc8 | 202 | A tutorial introduction to Midnight Commander. |
0f82d9d8 RS |
203 | |
204 | @item | |
205 | A thorough manual for RCS. | |
206 | ||
207 | @item | |
208 | A reference manual for Mach. | |
209 | ||
210 | @item | |
211 | A reference manual for the GNU Hurd features in GNU libc. | |
212 | ||
213 | @item | |
214 | A manual for writing Hurd servers. | |
215 | ||
acb0ff5c BY |
216 | @item |
217 | A manual for GNU sed. | |
218 | ||
fff05d88 | 219 | @item |
0f82d9d8 RS |
220 | Reference manuals for C++, Objective C, Pascal, Fortran 77, and Java. |
221 | ||
222 | @item | |
223 | A tutorial manual for the C++ STL (standard template library). | |
224 | ||
3c307b90 | 225 | @item |
1eb87eaf | 226 | A tutorial manual for Gforth. |
3c307b90 | 227 | |
0f82d9d8 RS |
228 | @item |
229 | GNU Objective-C Runtime Library Manual; this would be a reference manual | |
230 | for the runtime library functions, structures, and classes. Some work | |
231 | has been done on this job. | |
232 | ||
233 | @item | |
234 | Manuals for GNUstep: developer tutorial, developer programming manual, | |
235 | developer reference manual, and user manual. | |
fff05d88 | 236 | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
237 | @item |
238 | A manual for Ghostscript. | |
c05524ad | 239 | |
c05524ad RS |
240 | @item |
241 | A manual for TCSH. | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
242 | |
243 | @item | |
dc32c4fa RS |
244 | A coherent free reference manual for Perl. Most of the Perl on-line |
245 | reference documentation can be used as a starting point, but work is | |
246 | needed to weld them together into a coherent manual. | |
bb5d4e1a | 247 | |
76eebffc GM |
248 | @ignore |
249 | @c Bradley Kuhn is working on this. <bkuhn@ebb.org> | |
bb5d4e1a | 250 | @item |
fff05d88 RS |
251 | A good free Perl language tutorial introduction. The existing Perl |
252 | introductions are published with restrictions on copying and | |
253 | modification, so that they cannot be part of a GNU system. | |
76eebffc | 254 | @end ignore |
fff05d88 RS |
255 | |
256 | @item | |
257 | A manual for PIC (the graphics formatting language). | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
258 | |
259 | @item | |
260 | A book on how GCC works and why various machine descriptions | |
261 | are written as they are. | |
262 | ||
263 | @item | |
0f82d9d8 | 264 | A manual for programming applications for X11. |
bb5d4e1a RS |
265 | |
266 | @item | |
267 | Manuals for various X window managers. | |
268 | ||
269 | @item | |
261597d4 | 270 | Reference cards for those manuals that don't have them: C |
c05524ad | 271 | Compiler, Make, Texinfo, Termcap, and maybe the C Library. |
bb5d4e1a RS |
272 | |
273 | @item | |
76eebffc | 274 | Many utilities still need documentation. |
bb5d4e1a RS |
275 | @end itemize |
276 | ||
6af1f598 | 277 | @node Unix-Related Projects, Kernel Projects, Documentation, Top |
d9e60f52 | 278 | @chapter Unix-Related Projects |
bb5d4e1a | 279 | |
d9e60f52 | 280 | @itemize @bullet |
5aba97f2 | 281 | @ignore |
bb5d4e1a RS |
282 | @item |
283 | Modify the GNU @code{dc} program to use the math routines of GNU | |
284 | @code{bc}. | |
5aba97f2 | 285 | @end ignore |
bb5d4e1a | 286 | |
bb5d4e1a | 287 | @item |
fff05d88 RS |
288 | Less urgent: make a replacement for the ``writer's workbench'' program |
289 | @code{style}, or something to do the same kind of job. Compatibility | |
f5c525cd | 290 | with Unix is not especially important for this program. |
76eebffc GM |
291 | |
292 | @item | |
293 | Rewrite @code{indent} from scratch to make it cleaner. | |
294 | ||
295 | @item | |
296 | Write a free software replacement for the @code{agrep} program. | |
297 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
298 | @end itemize |
299 | ||
6af1f598 | 300 | @node Kernel Projects, Extensions, Unix-Related Projects, Top |
d9e60f52 | 301 | @chapter Kernel-Related Projects |
bb5d4e1a | 302 | |
d9e60f52 | 303 | @itemize @bullet |
bb5d4e1a | 304 | @item |
5aba97f2 | 305 | An over-the-ethernet debugger stub that will allow the kernel to be |
bb5d4e1a RS |
306 | debugged from GDB running on another machine. |
307 | ||
5aba97f2 RS |
308 | This stub needs its own self-contained implementation of all protocols |
309 | to be used, since the GNU system will use user processes to implement | |
310 | all but the lowest levels, and the stub won't be able to use those | |
311 | processes. If a simple self-contained implementation of IP and TCP is | |
312 | impractical, it might be necessary to design a new, simple protocol | |
313 | based directly on ethernet. It's not crucial to support high speed or | |
314 | communicating across gateways. | |
315 | ||
316 | It might be possible to use the Mach ethernet driver code, but it would | |
317 | need some changes. | |
318 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
319 | @item |
320 | A shared memory X11 server to run under MACH is very desirable. The | |
321 | machine specific parts should be kept well separated. | |
c05524ad RS |
322 | |
323 | @item | |
324 | An implementation of CIFS, the ``Common Internet File System,'' for the | |
325 | HURD. This protocol is an offshoot of SMB. | |
c6d6677e RS |
326 | |
327 | @item | |
328 | Support (in Linux?) for dumping the non-textual contents of an SVGA | |
329 | console. | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
330 | @end itemize |
331 | ||
6af1f598 | 332 | @node Extensions, X Windows Projects, Kernel Projects, Top |
d9e60f52 | 333 | @chapter Extensions to Existing GNU Software |
bb5d4e1a | 334 | |
d9e60f52 | 335 | @itemize @bullet |
bb5d4e1a | 336 | @item |
d9e60f52 DM |
337 | Enhance GCC. See files @file{PROJECTS} and @file{PROBLEMS} in the GCC |
338 | distribution. | |
bb5d4e1a | 339 | |
a81ed99e RS |
340 | @item |
341 | Interface GDB to Guile, so that users can write debugging commands in | |
342 | Scheme. This would also make it possible to write, in Scheme, a | |
fff05d88 RS |
343 | graphical interface that uses GTK and is tightly integrated into GDB. |
344 | ||
345 | @item | |
346 | Extend Octave to support programs that were written | |
347 | to run on Khoros. | |
a81ed99e | 348 | |
2eebaacd | 349 | @item |
d71de6f9 JWI |
350 | Rewrite Automake in Scheme, so it can run in Guile. Right now it is |
351 | written in Perl. There are also other programs, not terribly long, | |
352 | which we would also like to have rewritten in Scheme. | |
fff05d88 | 353 | |
b6a061a8 RS |
354 | @item |
355 | Finish the partially-implemented C interpreter project. | |
2eebaacd RS |
356 | |
357 | @item | |
fff05d88 | 358 | Help with the development of GNUstep, a GNU implementation of the |
2eebaacd RS |
359 | OpenStep specification. |
360 | ||
5aba97f2 RS |
361 | @item |
362 | Add features to GNU Make to record the precise rule with which each file | |
363 | was last recompiled; then recompile any file if its rule in the makefile | |
364 | has changed. | |
365 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
366 | @item |
367 | Add a few features to GNU @code{diff}, such as handling large input | |
368 | files without reading entire files into core. | |
369 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
370 | @item |
371 | An @code{nroff} macro package to simplify @code{texi2roff}. | |
372 | ||
373 | @item | |
374 | A queueing system for the mailer Smail that groups pending work by | |
375 | destination rather than by original message. This makes it possible | |
376 | to schedule retries coherently for each destination. Talk to | |
76eebffc | 377 | @email{tron@@veritas.com} and @email{woods@@weird.com} about this. |
bb5d4e1a | 378 | |
5aba97f2 RS |
379 | @item |
380 | Enhanced cross-reference browsing tools. (We now have something at | |
381 | about the level of @code{cxref}.) We also could use something like | |
382 | @code{ctrace}. (Some people are now working on this project.) | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
383 | @end itemize |
384 | ||
6af1f598 | 385 | @node X Windows Projects, Network Projects, Extensions, Top |
d9e60f52 | 386 | @chapter X Windows Projects |
bb5d4e1a | 387 | |
d9e60f52 | 388 | @itemize @bullet |
bb5d4e1a RS |
389 | @item |
390 | An emulator for Macintosh graphics calls on top of X Windows. | |
391 | ||
0f82d9d8 | 392 | @item |
0f82d9d8 | 393 | |
76eebffc GM |
394 | A package that emulates the API of Visual C++'s Foundation Classes |
395 | (MFC), but operates on top of X11. It need not match the screen | |
396 | appearance provided by MFC. Instead, it would be best to use GTK, so as | |
397 | to give coherence with GNOME. | |
398 | ||
399 | @ignore | |
400 | @c GNOME Basic is doing this | |
0f82d9d8 RS |
401 | @item |
402 | A compatible replacement for Visual Basic, running on top of X11. | |
403 | It need not match the screen appearance of Visual C++. Instead, | |
404 | it would be best to use GTK, so as to give coherence with GNOME. | |
76eebffc | 405 | @end ignore |
0f82d9d8 | 406 | |
76eebffc GM |
407 | @ignore |
408 | @c Denemo is doing this. | |
bb5d4e1a | 409 | @item |
ca0afed9 | 410 | A music playing and editing system. This should work with LilyPond, a |
fff05d88 | 411 | GNU program for music typesetting. |
76eebffc | 412 | @end ignore |
0f82d9d8 | 413 | |
acb0ff5c | 414 | @ignore @c GNUskies should do this |
fff05d88 RS |
415 | @item |
416 | An ephemeris program to replace xephem (which is, alas, too restricted | |
417 | to qualify as free software). | |
acb0ff5c | 418 | @end ignore |
7263f2f7 | 419 | |
76eebffc GM |
420 | @c Gepetto (@url{http://laurent.riesterer.free.fr/gepetto/intro-main.html}, |
421 | @c @email{laurent.riesterer@@free.fr}), according to @email{gnueval@@gnu.org}, | |
422 | @c does the job of displaing dancers but does not allow editing notation. | |
423 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
424 | @item |
425 | A program to edit dance notation (such as labanotation) and display | |
76eebffc GM |
426 | dancers moving on the screen. Gepetto done some of this work. Contact |
427 | @email{gvc@@gnu.org} if you are interested in helping finish the job. | |
bb5d4e1a | 428 | |
b10fca68 | 429 | @item |
fff05d88 | 430 | Make sure the Vibrant toolkit works with LessTif instead of Motif. |
b10fca68 | 431 | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
432 | @item |
433 | A program to display and edit Hypercard stacks. | |
434 | ||
acb0ff5c BY |
435 | @item |
436 | A two-dimensional outliner program, which lets you draw | |
437 | graph structures of textual items, and then display them | |
438 | in various ways. | |
439 | ||
76eebffc | 440 | @ignore @c done |
c05524ad RS |
441 | @item |
442 | A program for graphic morphing of scanned photographs. | |
76eebffc | 443 | @end ignore |
0f82d9d8 RS |
444 | |
445 | @item | |
446 | Software for designing and printing business cards. | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
447 | @end itemize |
448 | ||
6af1f598 | 449 | @node Network Projects, Encryption Projects, X Windows Projects, Top |
ab9ca9c7 JWI |
450 | @chapter Network Projects |
451 | ||
452 | @itemize @bullet | |
3b72e81d JE |
453 | @ignore |
454 | @c www.openh323.org is doing this. Craig Southeren <craigs@equival.com.au> | |
ab9ca9c7 JWI |
455 | @item |
456 | A teleconferencing program which does the job of CU-SeeMe (which is, | |
457 | alas, not free software). | |
3b72e81d | 458 | @end ignore |
ab9ca9c7 | 459 | |
2f845c34 KH |
460 | @ignore |
461 | @c Bishop Bettini <bishop@synxcti.com> is working on this. | |
ab9ca9c7 JWI |
462 | @item |
463 | A free ICQ-compatible server program. (The ICQ server itself is not | |
464 | free software.) | |
2f845c34 KH |
465 | @end ignore |
466 | ||
ab9ca9c7 JWI |
467 | @end itemize |
468 | ||
6af1f598 | 469 | @node Encryption Projects, Other Projects, Network Projects, Top |
ca0afed9 | 470 | @chapter Encryption Projects |
bb5d4e1a | 471 | |
ca0afed9 RS |
472 | These projects need to be written outside the US by people who are not |
473 | US citizens, to avoid problems with US export control law. | |
bb5d4e1a | 474 | |
d9e60f52 | 475 | @itemize @bullet |
c05524ad | 476 | @item |
76eebffc GM |
477 | A free library for public-key encryption. This library can probably be |
478 | developed from the code for the GNU Privacy Guard. | |
479 | ||
dc32c4fa | 480 | @item |
76eebffc GM |
481 | An implementation of SSLv3 (more precisely, TLSv1) which has |
482 | distribution terms compatible with the GNU GPL. We know of a | |
483 | GPL-covered implemention of a version of SSL that you can use as a | |
484 | starting point. | |
dc32c4fa | 485 | |
bb5d4e1a | 486 | @item |
eee331a5 RS |
487 | Free software for doing secure commercial transactions on the web. |
488 | This too needs public key encryption. | |
ca0afed9 RS |
489 | @end itemize |
490 | ||
6af1f598 | 491 | @node Other Projects, Languages, Encryption Projects, Top |
ca0afed9 | 492 | @chapter Other Projects |
bb5d4e1a | 493 | |
ca0afed9 | 494 | If you think of others that should be added, please |
76eebffc | 495 | send them to @email{tasks@@gnu.org}. |
ca0afed9 RS |
496 | |
497 | @itemize @bullet | |
c6d6677e | 498 | @ignore OpenBIOS is doing this |
fff05d88 RS |
499 | @item |
500 | A simple PC BIOS. On most new PCs, the BIOS is stored in writable | |
501 | memory (misleadingly known as ``flash ROM''). In order to have a wholly | |
502 | free system on these PCs, we need a free BIOS. | |
503 | ||
504 | This task is made simpler by the fact that this BIOS need only support | |
505 | enough features to enable a boot-loader such as LILO or GRUB to finish | |
506 | loading the kernel. Neither Linux nor Mach actually uses the BIOS once | |
507 | it starts up. Also, it is not absolutely necessary to do all the many | |
508 | diagnostics that an ordinary BIOS does (though it would be useful to do | |
509 | some of them). However, there may be a need to configure certain data | |
510 | in the computer in a way that is specific to each model of computer. | |
c6d6677e | 511 | @end ignore |
fff05d88 | 512 | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
513 | @item |
514 | An imitation of Page Maker or Ventura Publisher. | |
515 | ||
516 | @item | |
f5c525cd | 517 | An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3}. (How dbased!) |
76eebffc GM |
518 | Harbour, a free replacement for Clipper, would provide a useful start. |
519 | @uref{http://www.harbour-project.org/}. | |
bb5d4e1a | 520 | |
acb0ff5c | 521 | @ignore @c being done by Jonas etc. |
bb5d4e1a | 522 | @item |
c05524ad RS |
523 | A general ledger program, including support for accounts payable, |
524 | account receivables, payroll, inventory control, order processing, etc. | |
acb0ff5c | 525 | @end ignore |
c05524ad | 526 | |
bb5d4e1a | 527 | @item |
fff05d88 RS |
528 | A free replacement for Glimpse, which is not free software. |
529 | ||
0f82d9d8 RS |
530 | @item |
531 | Software for desktop publishing. We are extending Emacs into a WYSIWYG | |
532 | word processor, to handle primarily linear text; what this item proposes | |
533 | is software focused on page layout. | |
534 | ||
283fd8a7 | 535 | @ignore It looks like TruePrint will fill this gap |
fff05d88 RS |
536 | @item |
537 | A program to typeset C code for printing, to make it easier to read on | |
538 | paper. For ideas on what to do, see the book, | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
539 | |
540 | @display | |
541 | Human Factors and Typography for More Readable Programs, | |
542 | Ronald M. Baecker and Aaron Marcus, | |
543 | Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10745-7 | |
544 | @end display | |
545 | ||
fff05d88 | 546 | But you don't have to do exactly what they propose. |
283fd8a7 | 547 | @end ignore |
bb5d4e1a | 548 | |
fff05d88 RS |
549 | @ignore |
550 | @c This is now being worked on -- rms, 22 June 1998 | |
7c4978a8 | 551 | @item |
541d49e1 JG |
552 | A program to convert Microsoft Word documents to text/enriched, TeX, |
553 | LaTeX, Texinfo, or some other format that free software can edit. | |
fff05d88 RS |
554 | @end ignore |
555 | ||
556 | @ignore | |
557 | @c People are helping the developer of siff release it as free software. | |
7c4978a8 | 558 | |
fff05d88 | 559 | @item |
50b9d07d | 560 | A free replacement for siff (sometimes called sif). This would be a |
fff05d88 RS |
561 | program to find similar files in a large file system, ``similar'' |
562 | meaning that the files contain a significant number of common substrings | |
563 | that are of a certain size or greater. You can find some information | |
564 | about siff (which is, unfortunately, not free software) at | |
565 | @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.arizona.edu/reports/1993/TR93-33.ps.Z}. | |
566 | @end ignore | |
567 | ||
568 | @ignore | |
569 | @c This is being developed -- rms, 3 May 1998 | |
7c4978a8 RS |
570 | @item |
571 | A free replacement for the semi-free Qt library. | |
fff05d88 | 572 | @end ignore |
7c4978a8 | 573 | |
76eebffc GM |
574 | @ignore |
575 | @c Ogg Vorbis is doing this, see @url{http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/index.html} or contact @email{Monty <monty@xiph.org>}. | |
576 | ||
ca0afed9 RS |
577 | @item |
578 | High-quality music compression software. | |
76eebffc | 579 | (Talk with @email{mt@@sulaco.org} for relevant suggestions.) |
c6d6677e RS |
580 | Unfortunately we cannot implement the popular MP3 format |
581 | due to patents, so this job includes working out some other | |
582 | non-patented format and compression method. | |
76eebffc | 583 | @end ignore |
ca0afed9 RS |
584 | |
585 | @item | |
586 | A program to play sound distributed in ``Real Audio'' format. | |
587 | ||
588 | @item | |
589 | A program to generate ``Real Audio'' format from audio input. | |
590 | ||
fff05d88 RS |
591 | @item |
592 | Programs to handle audio in RTSP format. | |
593 | ||
632c6364 | 594 | @ignore @c Software patents have made this domain off limits to free software. |
ca0afed9 RS |
595 | @item |
596 | An MPEG III audio encoder/decoder (but it is necessary to check, first, | |
597 | whether patents make this impossible). | |
598 | ||
76eebffc GM |
599 | @c Chris Hofstader is working on a non-Festival speech-generation program. |
600 | @c Mario Lang <lang@zid.tu-graz.ac.at> reports that Festival needs only | |
601 | @c to be 2-5 times faster to work well with Emacspeak. | |
bb5d4e1a | 602 | @item |
76eebffc GM |
603 | Speech-generation programs that are faster than the Festival engine. |
604 | This might be done by optimizing Festival. | |
bb5d4e1a | 605 | |
ab9ca9c7 | 606 | @c We have a project now. |
bb5d4e1a | 607 | @item |
948c942f | 608 | Speech-recognition programs (single-speaker, disconnected speech is sufficient). |
ab9ca9c7 | 609 | @end ignore |
948c942f | 610 | |
1c5d31a7 JWI |
611 | @item |
612 | A braille translation and formatting system which can convert marked up | |
613 | documents into braille. This should let the user customize the braille | |
614 | translation rules; it would be good to divide it into a | |
615 | device-independent part plus drivers. Contact Jason White, | |
0fd51ae1 | 616 | @email{jasonw@@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU}. |
1c5d31a7 | 617 | |
fff05d88 RS |
618 | @ignore Being done |
619 | @item | |
620 | A program to display text word by word, always showing just one word at | |
621 | a time. This method permits much faster reading than ordinary text | |
622 | display. If you want to work on this, contact @email{stutz@@dsl.org} to | |
623 | learn more. | |
624 | @end ignore | |
625 | ||
bb5d4e1a | 626 | @item |
b6a061a8 RS |
627 | More scientific mathematical subroutines. |
628 | (A clone of SPSS is being written already.) | |
bb5d4e1a | 629 | |
eee331a5 RS |
630 | @item |
631 | A scientific data collection and processing tool, | |
632 | perhaps something like Scientific Workbench and/or Khoros, | |
633 | ||
dd7dc1f9 JG |
634 | @item |
635 | A program to calculate properties of molecules by solving | |
636 | the Schroedinger equation. | |
637 | ||
bb5d4e1a | 638 | @item |
76eebffc | 639 | Software to replace card catalogs in libraries. |
bb5d4e1a | 640 | |
3ab93df3 BY |
641 | @item |
642 | A simulator for heating and air conditioning systems for buildings. | |
643 | ||
76eebffc GM |
644 | @ignore |
645 | @c Pat Deegan @email{pat@@psychogenic.com} is working on this. | |
646 | @c no URL yet, the status is updated in @file{volunteers} | |
647 | ||
648 | @item | |
649 | A program for voting and tabulating election results. | |
650 | ||
651 | @end ignore | |
652 | ||
d2c1d7a8 KH |
653 | @item |
654 | A package for editing genealogical records conveniently. | |
655 | This could perhaps be done as a Gnome program, or perhaps | |
c04006ac | 656 | as an Emacs extension. |
d2c1d7a8 | 657 | |
76eebffc GM |
658 | @ignore |
659 | @c ToutDoux aims to do this. | |
660 | ||
ca0afed9 RS |
661 | @item |
662 | A project-scheduling package that accepts a list of project sub-tasks | |
663 | with their interdependencies, and generates Gantt charts and Pert charts | |
664 | and all the other standard project progress reports. | |
76eebffc | 665 | @end ignore |
ca0afed9 | 666 | |
bb5d4e1a RS |
667 | @item |
668 | Grammar and style checking programs. | |
669 | ||
608369ba JG |
670 | @item |
671 | A diagnostic program to test a hard disk. | |
672 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
673 | @item |
674 | Optical character recognition programs; especially if suitable for | |
675 | scanning documents with multiple fonts and capturing font info as well | |
261597d4 | 676 | as character codes. Work is being done on this, but more help is needed. |
5aba97f2 | 677 | |
76eebffc GM |
678 | @c Some of the OCR work being done: |
679 | @c Luis Cearra <luisjc@lem.eui.upm.es>, http://lem.eui.upm.es/ocre.html | |
680 | @c The status of these projects is updated in @file{/gd/gnuorg/volunteers} | |
681 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
682 | @item |
683 | A program to scan a line drawing and convert it to Postscript. | |
684 | ||
685 | @item | |
686 | A program to recognize handwriting. | |
687 | ||
76eebffc GM |
688 | @item |
689 | A program that can translate from one natural language, into another. | |
690 | For example, a program to translate French into English. | |
691 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
692 | @item |
693 | A pen based interface. | |
694 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
695 | @item |
696 | CAD software, such as a vague imitation of Autocad. | |
ca0afed9 RS |
697 | |
698 | @item | |
699 | A program to receive data from a serial-line tap to facilitate the | |
700 | reverse-engineering of communication protocols. | |
76eebffc GM |
701 | |
702 | @item | |
703 | A database program designed to store and retrieve patent information. | |
704 | ||
705 | @item | |
706 | A free software package to run on a Palm Pilot in place of its usual | |
707 | software, doing more or less the usual jobs. (Linux, the kernel, has | |
708 | apparently been ported, but according to what we hear this port is not | |
709 | useful yet.) | |
710 | ||
bb5d4e1a RS |
711 | @end itemize |
712 | ||
6af1f598 | 713 | @node Languages, Games and Recreations, Other Projects, Top |
0f82d9d8 | 714 | @chapter Programming Languages |
bb5d4e1a | 715 | |
d9e60f52 | 716 | Volunteers are needed to write parsers/front ends for languages such as |
0b2a408e | 717 | Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, Cobol, Fortran 90, Delphi, Modula 2, Modula 3, |
595ab6b8 JE |
718 | RPG, and any other languages designed for compilation, to be used with |
719 | the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler. | |
2eebaacd | 720 | |
fff05d88 | 721 | @c Fortran status is here so gnu@gnu.org and the volunteer coordinators |
cab856b0 | 722 | @c don't have to answer the question -len |
2eebaacd | 723 | You can get the status of the Fortran front end with this command: |
cab856b0 | 724 | |
2eebaacd | 725 | @example |
fff05d88 | 726 | finger -l fortran@@gnu.org |
cab856b0 | 727 | @end example |
bb5d4e1a | 728 | |
0f82d9d8 | 729 | We would like to have translators from various languages into Scheme. |
dc32c4fa | 730 | These languages include TCL, Python, Perl, Java, Javascript, and Rexx. |
76eebffc | 731 | Perhaps Clipper as well. |
0f82d9d8 | 732 | |
6af1f598 | 733 | @node Games and Recreations, , Languages, Top |
d6eb79ad | 734 | @chapter Games and Recreations |
bb5d4e1a | 735 | |
c05524ad RS |
736 | Video-oriented games that work with the X window system. |
737 | ||
d9e60f52 | 738 | @itemize @bullet |
bb5d4e1a RS |
739 | @item |
740 | Empire (there is a free version but it needs upgrading) | |
741 | ||
2eebaacd RS |
742 | @item |
743 | An ``empire builder'' system that makes it easy to write various kinds of | |
744 | simulation games. | |
745 | ||
c05524ad RS |
746 | @item |
747 | Improve GnuGo, which is not yet very sophisticated. | |
748 | ||
0f82d9d8 RS |
749 | @item |
750 | Network servers and clients for board and card games for which such | |
751 | software does not yet exist. | |
752 | ||
bb5d4e1a | 753 | @item |
fff05d88 RS |
754 | A Hierarchical Task Network package which can be used |
755 | to program play the computer's side in various strategic games. | |
756 | ||
76eebffc GM |
757 | @item |
758 | A game like Mill/Nine Men's Morris. | |
759 | ||
fff05d88 RS |
760 | @item |
761 | Write imitations of some popular video games: | |
bb5d4e1a | 762 | |
d9e60f52 | 763 | @itemize - |
bb5d4e1a RS |
764 | @item |
765 | Space war, Asteroids, Pong, Columns. | |
766 | @item | |
767 | Defending cities from missiles. | |
768 | @item | |
2eebaacd | 769 | Plane shoots at lots of other planes, tanks, etc. |
bb5d4e1a | 770 | @item |
fff05d88 | 771 | Wizard fights fanciful monsters. |
bb5d4e1a RS |
772 | @item |
773 | A golf game. | |
fff05d88 | 774 | @ignore Being done by jhall1@isd.net |
bb5d4e1a RS |
775 | @item |
776 | Program a robot by sticking building blocks together, | |
777 | then watch it explore a world. | |
fff05d88 | 778 | @end ignore |
bb5d4e1a | 779 | @item |
7c4978a8 RS |
780 | Biomorph evolution (as in Scientific American and @cite{The Blind |
781 | Watchmaker}). | |
bb5d4e1a | 782 | @end itemize |
bb5d4e1a RS |
783 | @end itemize |
784 | ||
785 | We do not need @code{rogue}, as we have @code{hack}. | |
786 | ||
787 | @contents | |
788 | ||
789 | @bye | |
76eebffc GM |
790 | @c LocalWords: dir texi lastupdate uref http www org html helpgnu ifinfo ftp |
791 | @c LocalWords: dvi hurd toc gvc URL GTK XmHTML xs nl ripley NT com gettext Qt | |
792 | @c LocalWords: GUI libstdc Docbook SGML libc sed STL Gforth GNUstep TCSH Perl | |
793 | @c LocalWords: Ghostscript PIC GCC Texinfo grep dc bc ethernet GDB IP CIFS CU | |
794 | @c LocalWords: SMB SVGA Khoros Automake OpenStep diff roff Smail tron veritas | |
795 | @c LocalWords: cxref ctrace API LilyPond xephem labanotation LessTif outliner | |
796 | @c LocalWords: Hypercard morphing SeeMe ICQ Diffie Helman RSA SSLv TLSv GPL | |
797 | @c LocalWords: OpenBIOS BIOS LILO dbase dbased Harbour harbour WYSIWYG ISBN | |
798 | @c LocalWords: TruePrint Baecker siff sif cs arizona edu TR ps mt sulaco MP | |
799 | @c LocalWords: RTSP MPEG jasonw ariel ucs unimelb AU stutz dsl TCL Javascript | |
800 | @c LocalWords: Rexx GnuGo jhall isd Biomorph regexp eval gd gnuorg | |
fff05d88 RS |
801 | Local variables: |
802 | update-date-leading-regexp: "@c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:\n@set lastupdate " | |
803 | update-date-trailing-regexp: "" | |
804 | eval: (load "/gd/gnuorg/update-date.el") | |
805 | eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'update-date) | |
806 | End: |