@setfilename tasks.info
@settitle GNU Task List
@c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
-@set lastupdate September 15, 1998
+@set lastupdate November 1, 1999
@c %**end of header
@setchapternewpage off
@top GNU Task List
This file is updated automatically from @file{tasks.texi}, which was
-last updated on @value{lastupdate}.
+last updated on @value{lastupdate}. See also
+@uref{http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html#helpgnu} for other suggested
+tasks.
@end ifinfo
@menu
-* Intro::
-* Highest Priority::
-* Documentation::
-* Unix-Related Projects::
-* Kernel Projects::
-* Extensions::
-* X Windows Projects::
-* Encryption Projects::
-* Other Projects::
-* Compilers::
-* Games and Recreations::
+* Intro::
+* Highest Priority::
+* Documentation::
+* Unix-Related Projects::
+* Kernel Projects::
+* Extensions::
+* X Windows Projects::
+* Network Projects::
+* Encryption Projects::
+* Other Projects::
+* Languages::
+* Games and Recreations::
@end menu
-@node Intro
+@node Intro, Highest Priority, Top, Top
@chapter About the GNU Task List
If you did not obtain this file directly from the GNU project and
appreciate it very much, if they use it; but even when they benefit from
a performance improvement, they may not consider it very important.
-@node Highest Priority
+@node Highest Priority, Documentation, Intro, Top
@chapter Highest Priority
This task list mentions a large number of tasks that would be more or
and then contact the Guile developers at @email{guile@@gnu.org}.
@item
-Help develop XmHTML.
+A package to convert programs written using MS Access into Scheme,
+making use of a free data base system and the GTK toolkit.
+
+@ignore
+@item
+Help develop XmHTML. See @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~ripley/XmHTML/}.
+@end ignore
@item
Help develop software to emulate Windows NT on top of GNU systems.
For example, you could help work on Willows Twin.
+See @uref{http://www.willows.com/}.
+@ignore The Kermit developers say they will provide a free program
+to do this.
@item
Implement the Kermit data transfer protocol. (See below.)
+@end ignore
@ignore This is being done (Harmony)
@item
the only solution. Hence the high degree of urgency of this project.
@end ignore
-@item
-Develop a free replacement for a semi-free program such as Xv or POV.
-These semi-free programs are less restricted than typical proprietary
-programs, but too restricted to be part of any free operating system.
-
@item
Develop a substitute, which runs on GNU systems, for some very popular
or very important application that many non-programmers use on Windows,
and which has no comparable free equivalent now.
@end itemize
-@node Documentation
+@node Documentation, Unix-Related Projects, Highest Priority, Top
@chapter Documentation
We very urgently need documentation for many existing parts of the
system.
Note that there are proprietary manuals for many of these topics, but
-proprietary manuals do not count, because we are not free to copy and
-modify them along with the software they document. For this reason,
-we do not recommend any non-free manuals.
+proprietary manuals do not count, for the same reason proprietary
+software does not count: we are not free to copy and modify them.
+We do not recommend any non-free materials as documentation.
@itemize @bullet
@item
-A C reference manual. (RMS made a try at one, which you could start
-with).
+A manual for libstdc++.
+
+@item
+A unified manual for La@TeX{}. (Existing documentation is non-free.)
+
+@item
+A manual for Docbook SGML format.
+
+@item
+A tutorial introduction to Midnight Commander.
+
+@item
+A thorough manual for RCS.
+
+@item
+A reference manual for Mach.
+
+@item
+A reference manual for the GNU Hurd features in GNU libc.
+
+@item
+A manual for writing Hurd servers.
+
+@item
+A manual for GNU sed.
@item
-Reference manuals for C++, Pascal, Fortran 77, and Java.
+Reference manuals for C++, Objective C, Pascal, Fortran 77, and Java.
+
+@item
+A tutorial manual for the C++ STL (standard template library).
+
+@item
+A tutorial manual for Gforth.
+
+@item
+GNU Objective-C Runtime Library Manual; this would be a reference manual
+for the runtime library functions, structures, and classes. Some work
+has been done on this job.
+
+@item
+Manuals for GNUstep: developer tutorial, developer programming manual,
+developer reference manual, and user manual.
@item
A manual for Ghostscript.
A manual for TCSH.
@item
-A good free reference manual for Perl. The free Perl on-line reference
-documentation is good, for what it is--a list of functions and a
-description of each--but that is not the same as a reference manual.
-(Compare, for example, the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual with the
-collection of documentation strings of Emacs Lisp functions.)
+A coherent free reference manual for Perl. Most of the Perl on-line
+reference documentation can be used as a starting point, but work is
+needed to weld them together into a coherent manual.
@item
A good free Perl language tutorial introduction. The existing Perl
are written as they are.
@item
-A manual for programming X-window applications.
+A manual for programming applications for X11.
@item
Manuals for various X window managers.
Many utilities need documentation, including @code{grep} and others.
@end itemize
-@node Unix-Related Projects
+@node Unix-Related Projects, Kernel Projects, Documentation, Top
@chapter Unix-Related Projects
@itemize @bullet
-@item
-An improved version of the POSIX utility @code{pax}. There is one on
-Usenet, but it is said to be poorly written. Talk with
-@email{thomas@@gnu.org}, @email{pinard@@iro.umontreal.ca} and
-@email{juo@@klinzhai.rutgers.edu} for advice about this project.
-
@ignore
@item
Modify the GNU @code{dc} program to use the math routines of GNU
@code{bc}.
@end ignore
-@item
-A @code{grap} preprocessor program for @code{troff}.
-
@item
Less urgent: make a replacement for the ``writer's workbench'' program
@code{style}, or something to do the same kind of job. Compatibility
-with Unix is not especially important for this programs.
+with Unix is not especially important for this program.
@end itemize
-@node Kernel Projects
+@node Kernel Projects, Extensions, Unix-Related Projects, Top
@chapter Kernel-Related Projects
@itemize @bullet
@item
An implementation of CIFS, the ``Common Internet File System,'' for the
HURD. This protocol is an offshoot of SMB.
+
+@item
+Support (in Linux?) for dumping the non-textual contents of an SVGA
+console.
@end itemize
-@node Extensions
+@node Extensions, X Windows Projects, Kernel Projects, Top
@chapter Extensions to Existing GNU Software
@itemize @bullet
to run on Khoros.
@item
-Rewrite Automake and Deja-GNU in Scheme, so they can run in Guile.
-Right now they are written in Perl and TCL, respectively. There are
-also other programs, not terribly long, which we would also like
-to have rewritten in Scheme.
-
-Deja-GNU uses TCL via Expect. It may be easy to adapt Expect
-to work with Scheme instead of TCL.
+Rewrite Automake in Scheme, so it can run in Guile. Right now it is
+written in Perl. There are also other programs, not terribly long,
+which we would also like to have rewritten in Scheme.
@item
Finish the partially-implemented C interpreter project.
@item
An @code{nroff} macro package to simplify @code{texi2roff}.
-@item
-An implementation of XML (see @uref{http://www.w3.org/XML/}).
-
@item
A queueing system for the mailer Smail that groups pending work by
destination rather than by original message. This makes it possible
@code{ctrace}. (Some people are now working on this project.)
@end itemize
-@node X Windows Projects
+@node X Windows Projects, Network Projects, Extensions, Top
@chapter X Windows Projects
@itemize @bullet
@item
An emulator for Macintosh graphics calls on top of X Windows.
+@item
+A package that emulates the API of Visual C++, but operates on top of
+X11. It need not match the screen appearance of Visual C++. Instead,
+it would be best to use GTK, so as to give coherence with GNOME.
+
+@item
+A compatible replacement for Visual Basic, running on top of X11.
+It need not match the screen appearance of Visual C++. Instead,
+it would be best to use GTK, so as to give coherence with GNOME.
+
@item
A music playing and editing system. This should work with LilyPond, a
GNU program for music typesetting.
+@item
+An ear-training program for students of music.
+
+@ignore @c GNUskies should do this
@item
An ephemeris program to replace xephem (which is, alas, too restricted
to qualify as free software).
+@end ignore
@item
A program to edit dance notation (such as labanotation) and display
@item
A program to display and edit Hypercard stacks.
+@item
+A two-dimensional outliner program, which lets you draw
+graph structures of textual items, and then display them
+in various ways.
+
@item
A program for graphic morphing of scanned photographs.
+
+@item
+Software for designing and printing business cards.
@end itemize
-@node Encryption Projects
+@node Network Projects, Encryption Projects, X Windows Projects, Top
+@chapter Network Projects
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@ignore
+@c www.openh323.org is doing this. Craig Southeren <craigs@equival.com.au>
+@item
+A teleconferencing program which does the job of CU-SeeMe (which is,
+alas, not free software).
+@end ignore
+
+@ignore
+@c Bishop Bettini <bishop@synxcti.com> is working on this.
+@item
+A free ICQ-compatible server program. (The ICQ server itself is not
+free software.)
+@end ignore
+
+@end itemize
+
+@node Encryption Projects, Other Projects, Network Projects, Top
@chapter Encryption Projects
These projects need to be written outside the US by people who are not
the code for the GNU Privacy Guard (now in development).
@item
-A free secure telnet program more or less like ssh/sshd. Since this
-requires a public key encryption algorithm, it should be based
-on the library above.
-
-This program should follow the draft standard for ssh. As always, it
-cannot implement the RSA algorithm, but must instead support the
-alternatives that will be patent-free in late 1997. It cannot support
-IDEA, but can use triple-DES and/or Blowfish or other non-patented
-alternatives.
+An implementation of SSLv3 (more precisely, TLSv1) which is patent-free
+(uses the non-RSA algorithms) and has distribution terms compatible with
+the GNU GPL. We know of a GPL-covered implemention of a version of SSL
+that you can use as a starting point.
@item
Free software for doing secure commercial transactions on the web.
This too needs public key encryption.
@end itemize
-A free replacement for PGP is no longer listed here because the GNU
-Privacy Guard will do that job.
+The projects to provide free replacements for PGP and SSH are no longer
+listed here, because projects to do those jobs are well under way.
-@node Other Projects
+@node Other Projects, Languages, Encryption Projects, Top
@chapter Other Projects
If you think of others that should be added, please
send them to @email{gnu@@gnu.org}.
@itemize @bullet
-
-@item
-A program to reformat HTML source to make it easier to read as HTML.
-
+@ignore OpenBIOS is doing this
@item
A simple PC BIOS. On most new PCs, the BIOS is stored in writable
memory (misleadingly known as ``flash ROM''). In order to have a wholly
diagnostics that an ordinary BIOS does (though it would be useful to do
some of them). However, there may be a need to configure certain data
in the computer in a way that is specific to each model of computer.
+@end ignore
+@ignore Frank Cruz promises a free version
@item
A free program that can transfer files on a serial line
using the same protocol that Kermit uses.
+@end ignore
@item
An imitation of Page Maker or Ventura Publisher.
@item
-An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3} (How dbased!)
+An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3}. (How dbased!)
+@uref{http://www.startech.keller.tx.us/xbase/xbase.html} may contain
+some useful stuff to start with.
+@ignore @c being done by Jonas etc.
@item
A general ledger program, including support for accounts payable,
account receivables, payroll, inventory control, order processing, etc.
+@end ignore
@item
-A teleconferencing program which does the job of CU-SeeMe (which is,
-alas, not free software).
+A free replacement for Glimpse, which is not free software.
@item
-A free replacement for Glimpse, which is not free software.
+Software for desktop publishing. We are extending Emacs into a WYSIWYG
+word processor, to handle primarily linear text; what this item proposes
+is software focused on page layout.
+@ignore It looks like TruePrint will fill this gap
@item
A program to typeset C code for printing, to make it easier to read on
paper. For ideas on what to do, see the book,
@end display
But you don't have to do exactly what they propose.
+@end ignore
@ignore
@c This is now being worked on -- rms, 22 June 1998
@item
High-quality music compression software.
(Talk with @email{phr@@netcom.com} for relevant suggestions.)
+Unfortunately we cannot implement the popular MP3 format
+due to patents, so this job includes working out some other
+non-patented format and compression method.
@item
A program to play sound distributed in ``Real Audio'' format.
@item
An MPEG III audio encoder/decoder (but it is necessary to check, first,
whether patents make this impossible).
-@end ignore
+@c Chris Hofstader is working on this.
@item
Speech-generation programs (there is a program from Brown U that you
could improve).
+@c We have a project now.
@item
Speech-recognition programs (single-speaker, disconnected speech is sufficient).
+@end ignore
+
+@item
+A braille translation and formatting system which can convert marked up
+documents into braille. This should let the user customize the braille
+translation rules; it would be good to divide it into a
+device-independent part plus drivers. Contact Jason White,
+@email{jasonw@@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU}.
@ignore Being done
@item
A scientific data collection and processing tool,
perhaps something like Scientific Workbench and/or Khoros,
+@item
+A program to calculate properties of molecules by solving
+the Schroedinger equation.
+
@item
Software to replace card catalogues in libraries.
+@item
+A simulator for heating and air conditioning systems for buildings.
+
+@item
+A package for editing genealogical records conveniently.
+This could perhaps be done as a Gnome program, or perhaps
+as an Emacs extension.
+
@item
A project-scheduling package that accepts a list of project sub-tasks
with their interdependencies, and generates Gantt charts and Pert charts
Grammar and style checking programs.
@item
-A translator from Scheme to C.
+A diagnostic program to test a hard disk.
@item
-A fast emulator for the i386 which works by translating
-machine instructions into the machine language of the host machine.
-(Support for emulation of other machines would enhance the program
-but might make it much more difficult.)
+A fast emulator for the i386, which would make it possible
+to emulate x86 code on other CPUs, and also to more easily
+debug kernels such as Linux more conveniently.
-@item
-A map display or geographic information system.
+To make this faster, it could work by translating machine instructions
+into the machine language of the host machine.
@item
Optical character recognition programs; especially if suitable for
reverse-engineering of communication protocols.
@end itemize
-@node Compilers
-@chapter Compilers for Other Batch Languages
+@node Languages, Games and Recreations, Other Projects, Top
+@chapter Programming Languages
Volunteers are needed to write parsers/front ends for languages such as
-Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, Cobol, Fortran 90, or whatever, to be
-used with the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler.
+Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, Cobol, Fortran 90, Delphi, Modula 2, Modula 3,
+RPG, and any other languages designed for compilation, to be used with
+the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler.
@c Fortran status is here so gnu@gnu.org and the volunteer coordinators
@c don't have to answer the question -len
finger -l fortran@@gnu.org
@end example
-@node Games and Recreations
+We would like to have translators from various languages into Scheme.
+These languages include TCL, Python, Perl, Java, Javascript, and Rexx.
+
+We would like to have an implementation of Clipper, perhaps a GCC front
+end, and perhaps a translator into Scheme.
+
+@node Games and Recreations, , Languages, Top
@chapter Games and Recreations
Video-oriented games that work with the X window system.
@item
Improve GnuGo, which is not yet very sophisticated.
+@item
+Network servers and clients for board and card games for which such
+software does not yet exist.
+
@item
A Hierarchical Task Network package which can be used
to program play the computer's side in various strategic games.
HCoop / bpt / emacs.git / blobdiff