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<h1 class="settitle">Information for Maintainers of GNU Software</h1>
<div class="contents">
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a name="toc_Top" href="#Top">Version</a>
<li><a name="toc_Preface" href="#Preface">1 About This Document</a>
<li><a name="toc_Stepping-Down" href="#Stepping-Down">2 Stepping Down</a>
<li><a name="toc_Recruiting-Developers" href="#Recruiting-Developers">3 Recruiting Developers</a>
<li><a name="toc_Legal-Matters" href="#Legal-Matters">4 Legal Matters</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Copyright-Papers">4.1 Copyright Papers</a>
<li><a href="#Legally-Significant">4.2 Legally Significant Changes</a>
<li><a href="#Recording-Contributors">4.3 Recording Contributors</a>
<li><a href="#Copying-from-Other-Packages">4.4 Copying from Other Packages</a>
<li><a href="#Copyright-Notices">4.5 Copyright Notices</a>
<li><a href="#License-Notices">4.6 License Notices</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Canonical-License-Sources">4.6.1 Canonical License Sources</a>
<li><a href="#License-Notices-for-Code">4.6.2 License Notices for Code</a>
<li><a href="#License-Notices-for-Documentation">4.6.3 License Notices for Documentation</a>
<li><a href="#License-Notices-for-Other-Files">4.6.4 License Notices for Other Files</a>
</li></ul>
<li><a href="#External-Libraries">4.7 External Libraries</a>
</li></ul>
<li><a name="toc_Clean-Ups" href="#Clean-Ups">5 Cleaning Up Changes</a>
<li><a name="toc_Platforms" href="#Platforms">6 Platforms to Support</a>
<li><a name="toc_Mail" href="#Mail">7 Dealing With Mail</a>
<li><a name="toc_Old-Versions" href="#Old-Versions">8 Recording Old Versions</a>
<li><a name="toc_Distributions" href="#Distributions">9 Distributions</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Distribution-tar-Files">9.1 Distribution tar Files</a>
<li><a href="#Distribution-Patches">9.2 Distribution Patches</a>
<li><a href="#Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg">9.3 Distribution on <code>ftp.gnu.org</code></a>
<li><a href="#Test-Releases">9.4 Test Releases</a>
<li><a href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">9.5 Automated FTP Uploads</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Automated-Upload-Registration">9.5.1 Automated Upload Registration</a>
<li><a href="#Automated-Upload-Procedure">9.5.2 Automated Upload Procedure</a>
<li><a href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1">9.5.3 FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</a>
<li><a href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e0">9.5.4 FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0</a>
</li></ul>
<li><a href="#Announcements">9.6 Announcing Releases</a>
</li></ul>
<li><a name="toc_Web-Pages" href="#Web-Pages">10 Web Pages</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Hosting-for-Web-Pages">10.1 Hosting for Web Pages</a>
<li><a href="#Freedom-for-Web-Pages">10.2 Freedom for Web Pages</a>
<li><a href="#Manuals-on-Web-Pages">10.3 Manuals on Web Pages</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Invoking-gendocs_002esh">10.3.1 Invoking <samp><span class="command">gendocs.sh</span></samp></a>
</li></ul>
<li><a href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">10.4 CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a>
</li></ul>
<li><a name="toc_Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration" href="#Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration">11 Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</a>
<li><a name="toc_Terminology" href="#Terminology">12 Terminology Issues</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Free-Software-and-Open-Source">12.1 Free Software and Open Source</a>
<li><a href="#GNU-and-Linux">12.2 GNU and Linux</a>
</li></ul>
<li><a name="toc_Hosting" href="#Hosting">13 Hosting</a>
<li><a name="toc_Free-Software-Directory" href="#Free-Software-Directory">14 Free Software Directory</a>
<li><a name="toc_Using-the-Proofreaders-List" href="#Using-the-Proofreaders-List">15 Using the Proofreaders List</a>
<li><a name="toc_GNU-Free-Documentation-License" href="#GNU-Free-Documentation-License">Appendix A GNU Free Documentation License</a>
<li><a name="toc_Index" href="#Index">Index</a>
</li></ul>
</div>



<div class="node">
<a name="Top"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Preface">Preface</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#dir">(dir)</a>

</div>

<h2 class="unnumbered">Version</h2>

<p>Information for maintainers of GNU software, last updated January 27, 2010.

   <p>Copyright &copy; 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.

   <blockquote>
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
&ldquo;GNU Free Documentation License&rdquo;. 
</blockquote>

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Preface">Preface</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#Stepping-Down">Stepping Down</a>
<li><a accesskey="3" href="#Recruiting-Developers">Recruiting Developers</a>
<li><a accesskey="4" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>
<li><a accesskey="5" href="#Clean-Ups">Clean Ups</a>
<li><a accesskey="6" href="#Platforms">Platforms</a>
<li><a accesskey="7" href="#Mail">Mail</a>
<li><a accesskey="8" href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a>
<li><a accesskey="9" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>
<li><a href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>
<li><a href="#Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration">Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</a>
<li><a href="#Terminology">Terminology</a>
<li><a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a>
<li><a href="#Free-Software-Directory">Free Software Directory</a>
<li><a href="#Using-the-Proofreaders-List">Using the Proofreaders List</a>
<li><a href="#GNU-Free-Documentation-License">GNU Free Documentation License</a>
<li><a href="#Index">Index</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Preface"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Stepping-Down">Stepping Down</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Top">Top</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">1 About This Document</h2>

<p>This file contains guidelines and advice for someone who is the
maintainer of a GNU program on behalf of the GNU Project.  Everyone is
entitled to change and redistribute GNU software; you need not pay
attention to this file to get permission.  But if you want to maintain a
version for widespread distribution, we suggest you follow these
guidelines.  If you would like to be a GNU maintainer, then it is
essential to follow these guidelines.

   <p>In addition to this document, please read and follow the GNU Coding
Standards (see <a href="standards.html#Top">Contents</a>).

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007bgnustandards_002dcommit_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-mailing-list-1"></a>If you want to receive diffs for every change to these GNU documents,
join the mailing list <code>gnustandards-commit@gnu.org</code>, via the web
interface at
<a href="http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustandards-commit">http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnustandards-commit</a>. 
Archives are also available there.

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007bmaintainers_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-email-address-2"></a>Please send corrections or suggestions for this document to
<a href="mailto:bug-standards@gnu.org">bug-standards@gnu.org</a>.  If you make a suggestion, please
include a suggested new wording for it, to help us consider the
suggestion efficiently.  We prefer a context diff to the
<samp><span class="file">maintain.texi</span></samp> file, but if you don't have that file, you can
make a context diff for some other version of this document, or
propose it in any way that makes it clear.

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007bmentors_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-mailing-list-3"></a>If you have general questions or encounter a situation where it isn't
clear what to do, you can ask <a href="mailto:mentors@gnu.org">mentors@gnu.org</a>, which is a
list of a few experienced GNU contributors who have offered to answer
questions for new maintainers.

   <p>The directory <samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg</span></samp> mentioned throughout this document is
found on the GNU file server, currently <code>fencepost.gnu.org</code>; if
you are the maintainer of a GNU package, you should have an account
there.  See <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html">http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html</a> if
you don't have one.  (You can also ask for accounts for people who
help you a large amount in working on the package.)

   <p>If on occasion you find that any GNU computer systems
(<code>fencepost.gnu.org</code>, <code>ftp.gnu.org</code>,
<code>savannah.gnu.org</code>, or others) seem to be down, you can check the
current status at <a href="http://identi.ca/group/fsfstatus">http://identi.ca/group/fsfstatus</a>.  Most likely
the problem, if it is at the FSF end, is already being worked on.

   <p><a name="index-Piercy_002c-Marge-4"></a>This document uses the gender-neutral third-person pronouns &ldquo;person&rdquo;,
&ldquo;per&rdquo;, &ldquo;pers&rdquo; and &ldquo;perself&rdquo; which were promoted, and perhaps
invented, by Marge Piercy in <cite>Woman on the Edge of Time</cite>.  They are
used just like &ldquo;she&rdquo;, &ldquo;her&rdquo;, &ldquo;hers&rdquo; and &ldquo;herself&rdquo;, except that
they apply equally to males and females.  For example, &ldquo;Person placed
per new program under the GNU GPL, to let the public benefit from per
work, and to enable per to feel person has done the right thing.&rdquo;

   <p>This release of the GNU Maintenance Instructions was last updated
January 27, 2010.

<div class="node">
<a name="Stepping-Down"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Recruiting-Developers">Recruiting Developers</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Preface">Preface</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">2 Stepping Down</h2>

<p>With good fortune, you will continue maintaining your package for many
decades.  But sometimes for various reasons maintainers decide to step
down.

   <p>If you're the official maintainer of a GNU package and you decide to
step down, please inform the GNU Project (<a href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org">maintainers@gnu.org</a>). 
We need to know that the package no longer has a maintainer, so we can
look for and appoint a new maintainer.

   <p>If you have an idea for who should take over, please tell
<a href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org">maintainers@gnu.org</a> your suggestion.  The appointment of a new
maintainer needs the GNU Project's confirmation, but your judgment that
a person is capable of doing the job will carry a lot of weight.

   <p>As your final act as maintainer, it would be helpful to set up the
package under <code>savannah.gnu.org</code> if it is not there already
(see <a href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a>).  This will make it much easier for the new
maintainer to pick up where you left off and will ensure that the
source tree is not misplaced if it takes us a while to find a new
maintainer.

<div class="node">
<a name="Recruiting-Developers"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Stepping-Down">Stepping Down</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">3 Recruiting Developers</h2>

<p>Unless your package is a fairly small, you probably won't do all the
work on it yourself.  Most maintainers recruit other developers to help.

   <p>Sometimes people will offer to help.  Some of them will be capable,
while others will not.  It's up to you to determine who provides useful
help, and encourage those people to participate more.

   <p>Some of the people who offer to help will support the GNU Project, while
others may be interested for other reasons.  Some will support the goals
of the Free Software Movement, but some may not.  They are all welcome
to help with the work&mdash;we don't ask people's views or motivations
before they contribute to GNU packages.

   <p>As a consequence, you cannot expect all contributors to support the GNU
Project, or to have a concern for its policies and standards.  So part
of your job as maintainer is to exercise your authority on these points
when they arise.  No matter how much of the work other people do, you
are in charge of what goes in the release.  When a crucial point arises,
you should calmly state your decision and stick to it.

   <p>Sometimes a package has several co-maintainers who share the role of
maintainer.  Unlike developers who help, co-maintainers have actually
been appointed jointly as the maintainers of the package, and they carry
out the maintainer's functions together.  If you would like to propose
some of your developers as co-maintainers, please contact
<a href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org">maintainers@gnu.org</a>.

   <p>We're happy to acknowledge all major contributors to GNU packages on
the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/people/people.html">http://www.gnu.org/people/people.html</a> web page.  Please send
an entry for yourself to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">webmasters@gnu.org</a>, and feel free to
suggest it to other significant developers on your package.

<div class="node">
<a name="Legal-Matters"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Clean-Ups">Clean Ups</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Recruiting-Developers">Recruiting Developers</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">4 Legal Matters</h2>

<p><a name="index-legal-matters-5"></a>
This chapter describes procedures you should follow for legal reasons
as you maintain the program, to avoid legal difficulties.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Copyright-Papers">Copyright Papers</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#Legally-Significant">Legally Significant</a>
<li><a accesskey="3" href="#Recording-Contributors">Recording Contributors</a>
<li><a accesskey="4" href="#Copying-from-Other-Packages">Copying from Other Packages</a>
<li><a accesskey="5" href="#Copyright-Notices">Copyright Notices</a>
<li><a accesskey="6" href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a>
<li><a accesskey="7" href="#External-Libraries">External Libraries</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Copyright-Papers"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Legally-Significant">Legally Significant</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.1 Copyright Papers</h3>

<p><a name="index-copyright-papers-6"></a>
If you maintain an FSF-copyrighted package
certain legal procedures are required when incorporating legally significant
changes written by other people.  This ensures that the FSF has the
legal right to distribute the package, and the standing to defend its
GPL-covered status in court if necessary.

   <p><strong>Before</strong> incorporating significant changes, make sure that the
person who wrote the changes has signed copyright papers and that the
Free Software Foundation has received and signed them.  We may also need
an employer's disclaimer from the person's employer.

   <p><a name="index-data-base-of-GNU-copyright-assignments-7"></a>To check whether papers have been received, look in
<samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg/copyright.list</span></samp>.  If you can't look there directly,
<a href="mailto:fsf-records@gnu.org">fsf-records@gnu.org</a> can check for you.  Our clerk can also
check for papers that are waiting to be entered and inform you when
expected papers arrive.

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040file_007b_002fgd_002fgnuorg_007d-directory-8"></a><!-- This paragraph intentionally duplicates information given -->
<!-- near the beginning of the file-to make sure people don't miss it. -->
The directory <samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg</span></samp> is found on the GNU machines,
currently <code>fencepost.gnu.org</code>; if you are the maintainer of a GNU
package, you should have an account on them.  Contact
<a href="mailto:accounts@gnu.org">accounts@gnu.org</a> if you don't have one.  (You can also ask
for accounts for people who help you a large amount in working on the
package.)

   <p>In order for the contributor to know person should sign papers, you need
to ask per for the necessary papers.  If you don't know per well, and you
don't know that person is used to our ways of handling copyright papers,
then it might be a good idea to raise the subject with a message like
this:

   <blockquote>
Would you be willing to assign the copyright to the Free Software
Foundation, so that we could install it in <var>program</var>? 
</blockquote>

<p class="noindent">or

   <blockquote>
Would you be willing to sign a copyright disclaimer to put this change
in the public domain, so that we can install it in <var>program</var>? 
</blockquote>

   <p>If the contributor wants more information, you can send per
<samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg/conditions.text</span></samp>, which explains per options (assign
vs. disclaim) and their consequences.

   <p>Once the conversation is under way and the contributor is ready for
more details, you should send one of the templates that are found in
the directory <samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg/Copyright/</span></samp>; they are also available
from the <samp><span class="file">doc/Copyright/</span></samp> directory of the <code>gnulib</code> project
at <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib">http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib</a>.  This section
explains which templates you should use in which circumstances. 
<strong>Please don't use any of the templates except for those listed
here, and please don't change the wording.</strong>

   <p>Once the conversation is under way, you can send the contributor the
precise wording and instructions by email.  Before you do this, make
sure to get the current version of the template you will use!  We change
these templates occasionally&mdash;don't keep using an old version.

   <p>For large changes, ask the contributor for an assignment.  Send per a
copy of the file <samp><span class="file">request-assign.changes</span></samp>.  (Like all the
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">request-</span></samp>&rsquo; files, it is in <samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg/Copyright</span></samp> and in
<code>gnulib</code>.)

   <p>For medium to small changes, request a personal disclaimer by sending
per the file <samp><span class="file">request-disclaim.changes</span></samp>.

   <p>If the contributor is likely to keep making changes, person might want
to sign an assignment for all per future changes to the program.  So it
is useful to offer per that alternative.  If person wants to do it that
way, send per the <samp><span class="file">request-assign.future</span></samp>.

   <p>When you send a <samp><span class="file">request-</span></samp> file, you don't need to fill in anything
before sending it.  Just send the file verbatim to the contributor.  The
file gives per instructions for how to ask the FSF to mail per the
papers to sign.  The <samp><span class="file">request-</span></samp> file also raises the issue of
getting an employer's disclaimer from the contributor's employer.

   <p>When the contributor emails the form to the FSF, the FSF sends per
papers to sign.  If person signs them right away, the whole process
takes about two weeks&ndash;mostly waiting for letters to go back and
forth.

   <p>For less common cases, we have template files you should send to the
contributor.  Be sure to fill in the name of the person and the name
of the program in these templates, where it says &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">NAME OF PERSON</span></samp>&rsquo;
and &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">NAME OF PROGRAM</span></samp>&rsquo;, before sending; otherwise person might
sign without noticing them, and the papers would be useless.  Note
that in some templates there is more than one place to put the name of
the program or the name of the person; be sure to change all of them. 
All the templates raise the issue of an employer's disclaimer as well.

   <p><a name="index-legal-papers-for-changes-in-manuals-9"></a>You do not need to ask for separate papers for a manual that is
distributed only in the software package it describes.  But if we
sometimes distribute the manual separately (for instance, if we publish
it as a book), then we need separate legal papers for changes in the
manual.  For smaller changes, use
<samp><span class="file">disclaim.changes.manual</span></samp>; for larger ones, use
<samp><span class="file">assign.changes.manual</span></samp>.  To cover both past and future
changes to a manual, you can use <samp><span class="file">assign.future.manual</span></samp>. 
For a translation of a manual, use <samp><span class="file">assign.translation.manual</span></samp>.

   <p>For translations of program strings (as used by GNU Gettext, for
example; see <a href="standards.html#Internationalization">Internationalization</a>), use <samp><span class="file">disclaim.translation</span></samp>.  If you make use of the
Translation Project (<a href="http://translationproject.org">http://translationproject.org</a>) facilities,
please check with the TP coordinators that they have sent the
contributor the papers; if they haven't, then you should send the
papers.  In any case, you should wait for the confirmation from the
FSF that the signed papers have been received and accepted before
integrating the new contributor's material, as usual.

   <p>If a contributor is reluctant to sign an assignment for a large change,
and is willing to sign a disclaimer instead, that is acceptable, so you
should offer this alternative if it helps you reach agreement.  We
prefer an assignment for a larger change, so that we can enforce the GNU
GPL for the new text, but a disclaimer is enough to let us use the text.

   <p>If you maintain a collection of programs, occasionally someone will
contribute an entire separate program or manual that should be added to
the collection.  Then you can use the files
<samp><span class="file">request-assign.program</span></samp>, <samp><span class="file">disclaim.program</span></samp>,
<samp><span class="file">assign.manual</span></samp>, and <samp><span class="file">disclaim.manual</span></samp>.  We very much prefer
an assignment for a new separate program or manual, unless it is quite
small, but a disclaimer is acceptable if the contributor insists on
handling the matter that way.

   <p>If a contributor wants the FSF to publish only a pseudonym, that is
ok.  The contributor should say this, and state the desired pseudonym,
when answering the <samp><span class="file">request-</span></samp> form.  The actual legal papers will
use the real name, but the FSF will publish only the pseudonym.  When
using one of the other forms, fill in the real name but ask the
contributor to discuss the use of a pseudonym with
<a href="mailto:assign@gnu.org">assign@gnu.org</a> before sending back the signed form.

   <p><strong>Although there are other templates besides the ones listed here,
they are for special circumstances; please do not use them without
getting advice from <a href="mailto:assign@gnu.org">assign@gnu.org</a>.</strong>

   <p>If you are not sure what to do, then please ask <a href="mailto:assign@gnu.org">assign@gnu.org</a> for
advice; if the contributor asks you questions about the meaning and
consequences of the legal papers, and you don't know the answers, you
can forward them to <a href="mailto:assign@gnu.org">assign@gnu.org</a> and we will answer.

   <p><strong>Please do not try changing the wording of a template yourself. 
If you think a change is needed, please talk with <a href="mailto:assign@gnu.org">assign@gnu.org</a>,
and we will work with a lawyer to decide what to do.</strong>

<div class="node">
<a name="Legally-Significant"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Recording-Contributors">Recording Contributors</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Copyright-Papers">Copyright Papers</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.2 Legally Significant Changes</h3>

<p>If a person contributes more than around 15 lines of code and/or text
that is legally significant for copyright purposes, we
need copyright papers for that contribution, as described above.

   <p>A change of just a few lines (less than 15 or so) is not legally
significant for copyright.  A regular series of repeated changes, such
as renaming a symbol, is not legally significant even if the symbol
has to be renamed in many places.  Keep in mind, however, that a
series of minor changes by the same person can add up to a significant
contribution.  What counts is the total contribution of the person; it
is irrelevant which parts of it were contributed when.

   <p>Copyright does not cover ideas.  If someone contributes ideas but no
text, these ideas may be morally significant as contributions, and
worth giving credit for, but they are not significant for copyright
purposes.  Likewise, bug reports do not count for copyright purposes.

   <p>When giving credit to people whose contributions are not legally
significant for copyright purposes, be careful to make that fact
clear.  The credit should clearly say they did not contribute
significant code or text.

   <p>When people's contributions are not legally significant because they
did not write code, do this by stating clearly what their contribution
was.  For instance, you could write this:

<pre class="example">     /*
      * Ideas by:
      *   Richard Mlynarik &lt;mly@adoc.xerox.com&gt; (1997)
      *   Masatake Yamato &lt;masata-y@is.aist-nara.ac.jp&gt; (1999)
      */
</pre>
   <p class="noindent"><code>Ideas by:</code> makes it clear that Mlynarik and Yamato here
contributed only ideas, not code.  Without the <code>Ideas by:</code> note,
several years from now we would find it hard to be sure whether they
had contributed code, and we might have to track them down and ask
them.

   <p>When you record a small patch in a change log file, first search for
previous changes by the same person, and see if per past
contributions, plus the new one, add up to something legally
significant.  If so, you should get copyright papers for all per
changes before you install the new change.

   <p>If that is not so, you can install the small patch.  Write &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">(tiny
change)</span></samp>&rsquo; after the patch author's name, like this:

<pre class="example">     2002-11-04  Robert Fenk  &lt;Robert.Fenk@gmx.de&gt;  (tiny change)
</pre>
   <div class="node">
<a name="Recording-Contributors"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Copying-from-Other-Packages">Copying from Other Packages</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Legally-Significant">Legally Significant</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.3 Recording Contributors</h3>

<p><a name="index-recording-contributors-10"></a>
<strong>Keep correct records of which portions were written by whom.</strong>
This is very important.  These records should say which files or
parts of files were written by each person, and which files or
parts of files were revised by each person.  This should include
installation scripts as well as manuals and documentation
files&mdash;everything.

   <p>These records don't need to be as detailed as a change log.  They
don't need to distinguish work done at different times, only different
people.  They don't need describe changes in more detail than which
files or parts of a file were changed.  And they don't need to say
anything about the function or purpose of a file or change&ndash;the
Register of Copyrights doesn't care what the text does, just who wrote
or contributed to which parts.

   <p>The list should also mention if certain files distributed in the same
package are really a separate program.

   <p>Only the contributions that are legally significant for copyright
purposes (see <a href="#Legally-Significant">Legally Significant</a>) need to be listed.  Small
contributions, bug reports, ideas, etc., can be omitted.

   <p>For example, this would describe an early version of GAS:

<pre class="display">     Dean Elsner   first version of all files except gdb-lines.c and m68k.c.
     Jay Fenlason  entire files gdb-lines.c and m68k.c, most of app.c,
                   plus extensive changes in messages.c, input-file.c, write.c
                   and revisions elsewhere.
     
     Note: GAS is distributed with the files obstack.c and obstack.h, but
     they are considered a separate package, not part of GAS proper.
</pre>
   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040file_007bAUTHORS_007d-file-11"></a>Please keep these records in a file named <samp><span class="file">AUTHORS</span></samp> in the source
directory for the program itself.

   <p>You can use the change log as the basis for these records, if you
wish.  Just make sure to record the correct author for each change
(the person who wrote the change, <em>not</em> the person who installed
it), and add &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">(tiny change)</span></samp>&rsquo; for those changes that are too
trivial to matter for copyright purposes.  Later on you can update the
<samp><span class="file">AUTHORS</span></samp> file from the change log.  This can even be done
automatically, if you are careful about the formatting of the change
log entries.

<div class="node">
<a name="Copying-from-Other-Packages"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Copyright-Notices">Copyright Notices</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Recording-Contributors">Recording Contributors</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.4 Copying from Other Packages</h3>

<p>When you copy legally significant code from another free software
package with a GPL-compatible license, you should look in the
package's records to find out the authors of the part you are copying,
and list them as the contributors of the code that you copied.  If all
you did was copy it, not write it, then for copyright purposes you are
<em>not</em> one of the contributors of <em>this</em> code.

   <p>Especially when code has been released into the public domain, authors
sometimes fail to write a license statement in each file.  In this
case, please first be sure that all the authors of the code have
disclaimed copyright interest.  Then, when copying the new files into
your project, add a brief note at the beginning of the files recording
the authors, the public domain status, and anything else relevant.

   <p>On the other hand, when merging some public domain code into an
existing file covered by the GPL (or LGPL or other free software
license), there is no reason to indicate the pieces which are public
domain.  The notice saying that the whole file is under the GPL (or
other license) is legally sufficient.

   <p>Using code that is released under a GPL-compatible free license,
rather than being in the public domain, may require preserving
copyright notices or other steps.  Of course, you should do what is
needed.

   <p>If you are maintaining an FSF-copyrighted package, please verify we
have papers for the code you are copying, <em>before</em> copying it. 
If you are copying from another FSF-copyrighted package, then we
presumably have papers for that package's own code, but you must check
whether the code you are copying is part of an external library; if
that is the case, we don't have papers for it, so you should not copy
it.  It can't hurt in any case to double-check with the developer of
that package.

   <p>When you are copying code for which we do not already have papers, you
need to get papers for it.  It may be difficult to get the papers if
the code was not written as a contribution to your package, but that
doesn't mean it is ok to do without them.  If you cannot get papers
for the code, you can only use it as an external library
(see <a href="#External-Libraries">External Libraries</a>).

<div class="node">
<a name="Copyright-Notices"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Copying-from-Other-Packages">Copying from Other Packages</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.5 Copyright Notices</h3>

<p><a name="index-copyright-notices-in-program-files-12"></a>
You should maintain a proper copyright notice and a license
notice in each nontrivial file in the package.  (Any file more than ten
lines long is nontrivial for this purpose.)  This includes header files
and interface definitions for
building or running the program, documentation files, and any supporting
files.  If a file has been explicitly placed in the public domain, then
instead of a copyright notice, it should have a notice saying explicitly
that it is in the public domain.

   <p>Even image files and sound files should contain copyright notices and
license notices, if their format permits.  Some formats do not have
room for textual annotations; for these files, state the copyright and
copying permissions in a <samp><span class="file">README</span></samp> file in the same directory.

   <p>Change log files should have a copyright notice and license notice at
the end, since new material is added at the beginning but the end
remains the end.

   <p>When a file is automatically generated from some other file in the
distribution, it is useful for the automatic procedure to copy the
copyright notice and permission notice of the file it is generated
from, if possible.  Alternatively, put a notice at the beginning saying
which file it is generated from.

   <p>A copyright notice looks like this:

<pre class="example">     Copyright (C) <var>year1</var>, <var>year2</var>, <var>year3</var> <var>copyright-holder</var>
</pre>
   <p>The word &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">Copyright</span></samp>&rsquo; must always be in English, by international
convention.

   <p>The <var>copyright-holder</var> may be the Free Software Foundation, Inc., or
someone else; you should know who is the copyright holder for your
package.

   <p>Replace the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">(C)</span></samp>&rsquo; with a C-in-a-circle symbol if it is available. 
For example, use &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">@copyright{}</span></samp>&rsquo; in a Texinfo file.  However,
stick with parenthesized &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">C</span></samp>&rsquo; unless you know that C-in-a-circle
will work.  For example, a program's standard <samp><span class="option">--version</span></samp>
message should use parenthesized &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">C</span></samp>&rsquo; by default, though message
translations may use C-in-a-circle in locales where that symbol is
known to work.  Alternatively, the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">(C)</span></samp>&rsquo; or C-in-a-circle can be
omitted entirely; the word &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">Copyright</span></samp>&rsquo; suffices.

   <p>To update the list of year numbers, add each year in which you have
made nontrivial changes to the package.  (Here we assume you're using
a publicly accessible revision control server, so that every revision
installed is also immediately and automatically published.)  When you
add the new year, it is not required to keep track of which files have
seen significant changes in the new year and which have not.  It is
recommended and simpler to add the new year to all files in the
package, and be done with it for the rest of the year.

   <p>Don't delete old year numbers, though; they are significant since they
indicate when older versions might theoretically go into the public
domain, if the movie companies don't continue buying laws to further
extend copyright.  If you copy a file into the package from some other
program, keep the copyright years that come with the file.

   <p>Do not abbreviate the year list using a range; for instance, do not
write &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">1996--1998</span></samp>&rsquo;; instead, write &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">1996, 1997, 1998</span></samp>&rsquo;.

   <p>For files which are regularly copied from another project (such as
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">gnulib</span></samp>&rsquo;), leave the copyright notice as it is in the original.

   <p>The copyright statement may be split across multiple lines, both in
source files and in any generated output.  This often happens for
files with a long history, having many different years of
publication.

   <p>For an FSF-copyrighted package, if you have followed the procedures to
obtain legal papers, each file should have just one copyright holder:
the Free Software Foundation, Inc.  You should edit the file's
copyright notice to list that name and only that name.

   <p>But if contributors are not all assigning their copyrights to a single
copyright holder, it can easily happen that one file has several
copyright holders.  Each contributor of nontrivial text is a copyright
holder.

   <p>In that case, you should always include a copyright notice in the name
of main copyright holder of the file.  You can also include copyright
notices for other copyright holders as well, and this is a good idea
for those who have contributed a large amount and for those who
specifically ask for notices in their names.  (Sometimes the license
on code that you copy in may require preserving certain copyright
notices.)  But you don't have to include a notice for everyone who
contributed to the file (which would be rather inconvenient).

   <p>Sometimes a program has an overall copyright notice that refers to the
whole program.  It might be in the <samp><span class="file">README</span></samp> file, or it might be
displayed when the program starts up.  This copyright notice should
mention the year of completion of the most recent major version; it
can mention years of completion of previous major versions, but that
is optional.

<div class="node">
<a name="License-Notices"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#External-Libraries">External Libraries</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Copyright-Notices">Copyright Notices</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.6 License Notices</h3>

<p><a name="index-license-notices-in-program-files-13"></a>
Every nontrivial file needs a license notice as well as the copyright
notice.  (Without a license notice giving permission to copy and
change the file, the file is non-free.)

   <p>The package itself should contain a full copy of GPL in plain text
(conventionally in a file named <samp><span class="file">COPYING</span></samp>) and the GNU Free
Documentation License (included within your documentation, so there is
no need for a separate plain text version).  If the package contains
any files distributed under the Lesser GPL, it should contain a full
copy of its plain text version also (conventionally in a file named
<samp><span class="file">COPYING.LESSER</span></samp>).

   <p>If you have questions about license issues for your GNU package,
please write <a href="mailto:licensing@gnu.org">licensing@gnu.org</a>.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Canonical-License-Sources">Source</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#License-Notices-for-Code">Code</a>
<li><a accesskey="3" href="#License-Notices-for-Documentation">Documentation</a>
<li><a accesskey="4" href="#License-Notices-for-Other-Files">Other</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Canonical-License-Sources"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#License-Notices-for-Code">License Notices for Code</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">4.6.1 Canonical License Sources</h4>

<p>You can get the official versions of these files from several places. 
You can use whichever is the most convenient for you.

     <ul>
<li><a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/</a>.

     <li>The <code>gnulib</code> project on <code>savannah.gnu.org</code>, which you
can access via anonymous Git or CVS.  See
<a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib">http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib</a>.

   </ul>

   <p>The official Texinfo sources for the licenses are also available in
those same places, so you can include them in your documentation.  A
GFDL-covered manual should include the GFDL in this way.  See <a href="texinfo.html#GNU-Sample-Texts">GNU Sample Texts</a>, for a full example in a Texinfo
manual.

<div class="node">
<a name="License-Notices-for-Code"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#License-Notices-for-Documentation">License Notices for Documentation</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Canonical-License-Sources">Canonical License Sources</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">4.6.2 License Notices for Code</h4>

<p>Typically the license notice for program files (including build scripts,
configure files and makefiles) should cite the GPL, like this:

   <blockquote>
This file is part of GNU <var>program</var>.

   <p>GNU <var>program</var> is free software: you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
License, or (at your option) any later version.

   <p>GNU <var>program</var> is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

   <p>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/</a>. 
</blockquote>

   <p>But in a small program which is just a few files, you can use
this instead:

   <blockquote>
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

   <p>This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

   <p>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/</a>. 
</blockquote>

<div class="node">
<a name="License-Notices-for-Documentation"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#License-Notices-for-Other-Files">License Notices for Other Files</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#License-Notices-for-Code">License Notices for Code</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">4.6.3 License Notices for Documentation</h4>

<p>Documentation files should have license notices also.  Manuals should
use the GNU Free Documentation License.  Following is an example of the
license notice to use after the copyright line(s) using all the
features of the GFDL.

<pre class="smallexample">     Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
     under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
     any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
     Invariant Sections being ``GNU General Public License'', with the
     Front-Cover Texts being ``A GNU Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts
     as in (a) below.  A copy of the license is included in the section
     entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
     
     (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to
     copy and modify this GNU manual.  Buying copies from the FSF
     supports it in developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
</pre>
   <p>If the FSF does not publish this manual on paper, then omit the last
sentence in (a) that talks about copies from GNU Press.  If the FSF is
not the copyright holder, then replace &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">FSF</span></samp>&rsquo; with the appropriate
name.

   <p>Please adjust the list of invariant sections as appropriate for your
manual.  If there are none, then say &ldquo;with no Invariant Sections&rdquo;. 
If your manual is not published by the FSF, and under 400 pages, you
can omit both cover texts.

   <p>See <a href="texinfo.html#GNU-Sample-Texts">GNU Sample Texts</a>, for a full example in a
Texinfo manual, and see
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-howto.html">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-howto.html</a> for more advice about
how to use the GNU FDL.

   <p>If the manual is over 400 pages, or if the FSF thinks it might be a
good choice for publishing on paper, then please include the GNU GPL,
as in the notice above.  Please also include our standard invariant
section which explains the importance of free documentation.  Write to
<a href="mailto:assign@gnu.org">assign@gnu.org</a> to get a copy of this section.

   <p>When you distribute several manuals together in one software package,
their on-line forms can share a single copy of the GFDL (see
section&nbsp;6).  However, the printed (&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.dvi</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.pdf</span></samp>&rsquo;,
<small class="dots">...</small>) forms should each contain a copy of the GFDL, unless they are
set up to be printed and published only together.  Therefore, it is
usually simplest to include the GFDL in each manual.

<div class="node">
<a name="License-Notices-for-Other-Files"></a>
<p><hr>
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#License-Notices-for-Documentation">License Notices for Documentation</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">4.6.4 License Notices for Other Files</h4>

<p>Small supporting files, short manuals (under 300 lines long) and rough
documentation (<samp><span class="file">README</span></samp> files, <samp><span class="file">INSTALL</span></samp> files, etc.) can
use a simple all-permissive license like this one:

<pre class="smallexample">     Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
     are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
     notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is offered as-is,
     without any warranty.
</pre>
   <p>Older versions of this license did not have the second sentence with
the express warranty disclaimer.  There is no urgent need to update
existing files, but new files should use the new text.

   <p>If your package distributes Autoconf macros that are intended to be
used (hence distributed) by third-party packages under possibly
incompatible licenses, you may also use the above all-permissive
license for these macros.

<div class="node">
<a name="External-Libraries"></a>
<p><hr>
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Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">4.7 External Libraries</h3>

<p>When maintaining an FSF-copyrighted GNU package, you may occasionally
want to use a general-purpose free software module which offers a
useful functionality, as a &ldquo;library&rdquo; facility (though the module is
not always packaged technically as a library).

   <p>In a case like this, it would be unreasonable to ask the author of that
module to assign the copyright to the FSF.  After all, person did not
write it specifically as a contribution to your package, so it would be
impertinent to ask per, out of the blue, &ldquo;Please give the FSF your
copyright.&rdquo;

   <p>So the thing to do in this case is to make your program use the module,
but not consider it a part of your program.  There are two reasonable
methods of doing this:

     <ol type=1 start=1>
<li>Assume the module is already installed on the system, and use it when
linking your program.  This is only reasonable if the module really has
the form of a library.

     <li>Include the module in your package, putting the source in a separate
subdirectory whose <samp><span class="file">README</span></samp> file says, &ldquo;This is not part of the
GNU FOO program, but is used with GNU FOO.&rdquo;  Then set up your makefiles
to build this module and link it into the executable.

     <p>For this method, it is not necessary to treat the module as a library
and make a &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.a</span></samp>&rsquo; file from it.  You can link with the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">.o</span></samp>&rsquo;
files directly in the usual manner.
        </ol>

   <p>Both of these methods create an irregularity, and our lawyers have told
us to minimize the amount of such irregularity.  So consider using these
methods only for general-purpose modules that were written for other
programs and released separately for general use.  For anything that was
written as a contribution to your package, please get papers signed.

<div class="node">
<a name="Clean-Ups"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Platforms">Platforms</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">5 Cleaning Up Changes</h2>

<p><a name="index-contributions_002c-accepting-14"></a><a name="index-quality-of-changes-suggested-by-others-15"></a>
Don't feel obligated to include every change that someone asks you to
include.  You must judge which changes are improvements&mdash;partly based
on what you think the users will like, and partly based on your own
judgment of what is better.  If you think a change is not good, you
should reject it.

   <p>If someone sends you changes which are useful, but written in an ugly
way or hard to understand and maintain in the future, don't hesitate to
ask per to clean up their changes before you merge them.  Since the
amount of work we can do is limited, the more we convince others to help
us work efficiently, the faster GNU will advance.

   <p>If the contributor will not or can not make the changes clean enough,
then it is legitimate to say &ldquo;I can't install this in its present form;
I can only do so if you clean it up.&rdquo;  Invite per to distribute per
changes another way, or to find other people to make them clean enough
for you to install and maintain.

   <p>The only reason to do these cleanups yourself is if (1) it is easy, less
work than telling the author what to clean up, or (2) the change is an
important one, important enough to be worth the work of cleaning it up.

   <p>The GNU Coding Standards are a good thing to send people when you ask
them to clean up changes (see <a href="standards.html#Top">Contents</a>).  The Emacs Lisp manual contains an appendix that gives
coding standards for Emacs Lisp programs; it is good to urge Lisp authors to
read it (see <a href="elisp.html#Tips">Tips and Conventions</a>).

<div class="node">
<a name="Platforms"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Mail">Mail</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Clean-Ups">Clean Ups</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">6 Platforms to Support</h2>

<p>Most GNU packages run on a wide range of platforms.  These platforms are
not equally important.

   <p>The most important platforms for a GNU package to support are GNU and
GNU/Linux.  Developing the GNU operating system is the whole point of
the GNU Project; a GNU package exists to make the whole GNU system more
powerful.  So please keep that goal in mind and let it shape your work. 
For instance, every new feature you add should work on GNU, and
GNU/Linux if possible too.  If a new feature only runs on GNU and
GNU/Linux, it could still be acceptable.  However, a feature that runs
only on other systems and not on GNU or GNU/Linux makes no sense in a
GNU package.

   <p>You will naturally want to keep the program running on all the platforms
it supports.  But you personally will not have access to most of these
platforms&ndash;so how should you do it?

   <p>Don't worry about trying to get access to all of these platforms.  Even
if you did have access to all the platforms, it would be inefficient for
you to test the program on each platform yourself.  Instead, you should
test the program on a few platforms, including GNU or GNU/Linux, and let
the users test it on the other platforms.  You can do this through a
pretest phase before the real release; when there is no reason to expect
problems, in a package that is mostly portable, you can just make a
release and let the users tell you if anything unportable was
introduced.

   <p>It is important to test the program personally on GNU or GNU/Linux,
because these are the most important platforms for a GNU package.  If
you don't have access to one of these platforms, please ask
<a href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org">maintainers@gnu.org</a> to help you out.

   <p>Supporting other platforms is optional&mdash;we do it when that seems like
a good idea, but we don't consider it obligatory.  If the users don't
take care of a certain platform, you may have to desupport it unless
and until users come forward to help.  Conversely, if a user offers
changes to support an additional platform, you will probably want to
install them, but you don't have to.  If you feel the changes are
complex and ugly, if you think that they will increase the burden of
future maintenance, you can and should reject them.  This includes
both free or mainly-free platforms such as OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and
NetBSD, and non-free platforms such as Windows.

<div class="node">
<a name="Mail"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Platforms">Platforms</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">7 Dealing With Mail</h2>

<p><a name="index-bug-reports-16"></a>
<a name="index-email_002c-for-receiving-bug-reports-17"></a><a name="index-mailing-list-for-bug-reports-18"></a>Once a program is in use, you will get bug reports for it.  Most GNU
programs have their own special lists for sending bug reports.  The
advertised bug-reporting email address should always be
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">bug-</span><var>program</var><span class="samp">@gnu.org</span></samp>&rsquo;, to help show users that the program
is a GNU package, but it is ok to set up that list to forward to another
site for further forwarding.  The package distribution should state the
name of the bug-reporting list in a prominent place, and ask users to
help us by reporting bugs there.

   <p>We also have a catch-all list, <a href="mailto:bug-gnu-utils@gnu.org">bug-gnu-utils@gnu.org</a>, which is
used for all GNU programs that don't have their own specific lists.  But
nowadays we want to give each program its own bug-reporting list and
move away from using <a href="mailto:bug-gnu-utils">bug-gnu-utils</a>.

   <p>If you wish, you can also have mailing lists such as
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">info-</span><var>program</var></samp>&rsquo; for announcements (see <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a>),
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">help-</span><var>program</var></samp>&rsquo; for general help and discussion (see below),
or any others you find useful.

   <p>By far the easiest way to create mailing lists is through
<code>savannah.gnu.org</code>.  Once you register your program, you can do
this yourself through the `Mailing Lists' menu, without needing
intervention by anyone else.  Furthermore, lists created through
Savannah will have a reasonable default configuration for antispam
purposes (see below).

   <p>If you are the maintainer of a GNU package, you should have an account
on the GNU servers; contact
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html">http://www.gnu.org/software/README.accounts.html</a> if you don't
have one.  (You can also ask for accounts for people who help you a
large amount in working on the package.)  With this account, you can
edit <samp><span class="file">/com/mailer/aliases</span></samp> to create a new unmanaged list or add
yourself to an existing unmanaged list.  A comment near the beginning
of that file explains how to create a Mailman-managed mailing list.

   <p>But if you don't want to learn how to do those things, you can
alternatively ask <a href="mailto:alias-file@gnu.org">alias-file@gnu.org</a> to add you to the
bug-reporting list for your program.  To set up a new list, contact
<a href="mailto:new-mailing-list@gnu.org">new-mailing-list@gnu.org</a>.  You can subscribe to a list managed
by Mailman by sending mail to the corresponding &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">-request</span></samp>&rsquo; address.

   <p>You should moderate postings from non-subscribed addresses on your
mailing lists, to prevent propagation of unwanted messages (&ldquo;spam&rdquo;)
to subscribers and to the list archives.  For lists controlled by
Mailman, you can do this by setting <code>Privacy Options - Sender
Filter - generic_nonmember_action</code> to <code>Hold</code>, and then
periodically (daily is best) reviewing the held messages, accepting
the real ones and discarding the junk.

   <p><a name="index-responding-to-bug-reports-19"></a>When you receive bug reports, keep in mind that bug reports are crucial
for your work.  If you don't know about problems, you cannot fix them. 
So always thank each person who sends a bug report.

   <p>You don't have an obligation to give more response than that, though. 
The main purpose of bug reports is to help you contribute to the
community by improving the next version of the program.  Many of the
people who report bugs don't realize this&mdash;they think that the point is
for you to help them individually.  Some will ask you to focus on that
<em>instead of</em> on making the program better.  If you comply with
their wishes, you will have been distracted from the job of maintaining
the program.

   <p>For example, people sometimes report a bug in a vague (and therefore
useless) way, and when you ask for more information, they say, &ldquo;I just
wanted to see if you already knew the solution&rdquo; (in which case the bug
report would do nothing to help improve the program).  When this
happens, you should explain to them the real purpose of bug reports.  (A
canned explanation will make this more efficient.)

   <p>When people ask you to put your time into helping them use the program,
it may seem &ldquo;helpful&rdquo; to do what they ask.  But it is much <em>less</em>
helpful than improving the program, which is the maintainer's real job.

   <p>By all means help individual users when you feel like it, if you feel
you have the time available.  But be careful to limit the amount of time
you spend doing this&mdash;don't let it eat away the time you need to
maintain the program!  Know how to say no; when you are pressed for
time, just &ldquo;thanks for the bug report&mdash;I will fix it&rdquo; is enough
response.

   <p>Some GNU packages, such as Emacs and GCC, come with advice about how to
make bug reports useful.  If you want to copy and adapt that, it could
be a very useful thing to do.

<div class="node">
<a name="Old-Versions"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Mail">Mail</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">8 Recording Old Versions</h2>

<p><a name="index-version-control-20"></a>
It is very important to keep backup files of all source files of GNU. 
You can do this using a source control system (such as RCS, CVS, Git,
<small class="dots">...</small>) if you like.  The easiest way to use RCS or CVS is via the
Version Control library in Emacs (see <a href="emacs.html#VC-Concepts">Concepts of Version Control</a>).

   <p>The history of previous revisions and log entries is very important for
future maintainers of the package, so even if you do not make it
publicly accessible, be careful not to put anything in the repository or
change log that you would not want to hand over to another maintainer
some day.

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007bsavannah_002dhackers_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-21"></a>The GNU Project provides a server that GNU software packages can use
for source control and other package needs: <code>savannah.gnu.org</code>. 
You don't have to use this repository, but if you plan to allow public
read-only access to your development sources, it is convenient for
people to be able to find various GNU packages in a central place. 
Savannah is managed by <a href="mailto:savannah-hackers@gnu.org">savannah-hackers@gnu.org</a>.

   <p>All GNU maintainers are strongly encouraged to take advantage of
Savannah, as sharing such a central point can serve to foster a sense
of community among GNU developers and help in keeping up with project
management.

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007bsavannah_002dannounce_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-mailing-list-22"></a>If you do use Savannah, it is a good idea to subscribe to the
<a href="mailto:savannah-announce@gnu.org">savannah-announce@gnu.org</a> mailing list
(<a href="http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/savannah-announce">http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/savannah-announce</a>).  This
is a very low-volume list to keep Savannah users informed of system
upgrades, problems, and the like.

<div class="node">
<a name="Distributions"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">9 Distributions</h2>

<p>It is important to follow the GNU conventions when making GNU software
distributions.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Distribution-tar-Files">Distribution tar Files</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a>
<li><a accesskey="3" href="#Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg">Distribution on ftp.gnu.org</a>
<li><a accesskey="4" href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a>
<li><a accesskey="5" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>
<li><a accesskey="6" href="#Announcements">Announcements</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Distribution-tar-Files"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">9.1 Distribution tar Files</h3>

<p><a name="index-distribution_002c-tar-files-23"></a>
The tar file for version <var>m</var>.<var>n</var> of program <code>foo</code> should be
named <samp><span class="file">foo-</span><var>m</var><span class="file">.</span><var>n</var><span class="file">.tar</span></samp>.  It should unpack into a
subdirectory named <samp><span class="file">foo-</span><var>m</var><span class="file">.</span><var>n</var></samp>.  Tar files should not
unpack into files in the current directory, because this is inconvenient
if the user happens to unpack into a directory with other files in it.

   <p>Here is how the <samp><span class="file">Makefile</span></samp> for Bison creates the tar file. 
This method is good for other programs.

<pre class="example">     dist: bison.info
             echo bison-`sed -e '/version_string/!d' \
               -e 's/[^0-9.]*\([0-9.]*\).*/\1/' -e q version.c` &gt; .fname
             -rm -rf `cat .fname`
             mkdir `cat .fname`
             dst=`cat .fname`; for f in $(DISTFILES); do \
                ln $(srcdir)/$$f $$dst/$$f || { echo copying $$f; \
                  cp -p $(srcdir)/$$f $$dst/$$f ; } \
             done
             tar --gzip -chf `cat .fname`.tar.gz `cat .fname`
             -rm -rf `cat .fname` .fname
</pre>
   <p>Source files that are symbolic links to other file systems cannot be
installed in the temporary directory using <code>ln</code>, so use <code>cp</code>
if <code>ln</code> fails.

   <p><a name="index-automake-24"></a>Using Automake is a good way to take care of writing the <code>dist</code>
target.

<div class="node">
<a name="Distribution-Patches"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg">Distribution on ftp.gnu.org</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Distribution-tar-Files">Distribution tar Files</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">9.2 Distribution Patches</h3>

<p><a name="index-patches_002c-against-previous-releases-25"></a>
If the program is large, it is useful to make a set of diffs for each
release, against the previous important release.

   <p>At the front of the set of diffs, put a short explanation of which
version this is for and which previous version it is relative to. 
Also explain what else people need to do to update the sources
properly (for example, delete or rename certain files before
installing the diffs).

   <p>The purpose of having diffs is that they are small.  To keep them
small, exclude files that the user can easily update.  For example,
exclude info files, DVI files, tags tables, output files of Bison or
Flex.  In Emacs diffs, we exclude compiled Lisp files, leaving it up
to the installer to recompile the patched sources.

   <p>When you make the diffs, each version should be in a directory suitably
named&mdash;for example, <samp><span class="file">gcc-2.3.2</span></samp> and <samp><span class="file">gcc-2.3.3</span></samp>.  This way,
it will be very clear from the diffs themselves which version is which.

   <p><a name="index-diff-26"></a><a name="index-patch-27"></a><a name="index-time-stamp-in-diffs-28"></a>If you use GNU <code>diff</code> to make the patch, use the options
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">-rc2P</span></samp>&rsquo;.  That will put any new files into the output as &ldquo;entirely
different.&rdquo;  Also, the patch's context diff headers should have dates
and times in Universal Time using traditional Unix format, so that patch
recipients can use GNU <code>patch</code>'s &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">-Z</span></samp>&rsquo; option.  For example,
you could use the following Bourne shell command to create the patch:

<pre class="example">     LC_ALL=C TZ=UTC0 diff -rc2P gcc-2.3.2 gcc-2.3.3 | \
     gzip -9 &gt;gcc-2.3.2-2.3.3.patch.gz
</pre>
   <p>If the distribution has subdirectories in it, then the diffs probably
include some files in the subdirectories.  To help users install such
patches reliably, give them precise directions for how to run patch. 
For example, say this:

<pre class="display">     To apply these patches, cd to the main directory of the program
     and then use `patch -p1'.   `-p1' avoids guesswork in choosing
     which subdirectory to find each file in.
</pre>
   <p>It's wise to test your patch by applying it to a copy of the old
version, and checking that the result exactly matches the new version.

<div class="node">
<a name="Distribution-on-ftp.gnu.org"></a>
<a name="Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">9.3 Distribution on <code>ftp.gnu.org</code></h3>

<p><a name="index-GNU-ftp-site-29"></a><a name="index-g_t_0040code_007bftp_002egnu_002eorg_007d_002c-the-GNU-ftp-site-30"></a>
GNU packages are distributed through directory <samp><span class="file">/gnu</span></samp> on
<code>ftp.gnu.org</code>.  Each package should have a subdirectory
named after the package, and all the distribution files for the package
should go in that subdirectory.

<!-- If you have an interest in seeing the monthly download logs from the FTP -->
<!-- site at @code{ftp.gnu.org} for your program, that is something that -->
<!-- @email{ftp-upload@@gnu.org} can set up for you.  Please contact them if -->
<!-- you are interested. -->
   <p>See <a href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>, for procedural details of putting new
versions on <code>ftp.gnu.org</code>.

<div class="node">
<a name="Test-Releases"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg">Distribution on ftp.gnu.org</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">9.4 Test Releases</h3>

<p><a name="index-test-releases-31"></a><a name="index-beta-releases-32"></a><a name="index-pretest-releases-33"></a>
<a name="index-g_t_0040code_007balpha_002egnu_002eorg_007d_002c-ftp-site-for-test-releases-34"></a>When you release a greatly changed new major version of a program, you
might want to do so as a pretest.  This means that you make a tar file,
but send it only to a group of volunteers that you have recruited.  (Use
a suitable GNU mailing list/newsgroup to recruit them.)

   <p>We normally use the FTP server <code>alpha.gnu.org</code> for pretests and
prerelease versions.  See <a href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>, for procedural details
of putting new versions on <code>alpha.gnu.org</code>.

   <p>Once a program gets to be widely used and people expect it to work
solidly, it is a good idea to do pretest releases before each &ldquo;real&rdquo;
release.

   <p>There are two ways of handling version numbers for pretest versions. 
One method is to treat them as versions preceding the release you are going
to make.

   <p>In this method, if you are about to release version 4.6 but you want
to do a pretest first, call it 4.5.90.  If you need a second pretest,
call it 4.5.91, and so on.  If you are really unlucky and ten pretests
are not enough, after 4.5.99 you could advance to 4.5.990 and so on. 
(You could also use 4.5.100, but 990 has the advantage of sorting in
the right order.)

   <p>The other method is to attach a date to the release number that is
coming.  For a pretest for version 4.6, made on Dec 10, 2002, this
would be 4.6.20021210.  A second pretest made the same day could be
4.6.20021210.1.

   <p>For development snapshots that are not formal pretests, using just
the date without the version numbers is ok too.

   <p>One thing that you should never do is to release a pretest with the same
version number as the planned real release.  Many people will look only
at the version number (in the tar file name, in the directory name that
it unpacks into, or wherever they can find it) to determine whether a
tar file is the latest version.  People might look at the test release
in this way and mistake it for the real release.  Therefore, always
change the number when you release changed code.

<div class="node">
<a name="Automated-FTP-Uploads"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Announcements">Announcements</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">9.5 Automated FTP Uploads</h3>

<p><a name="index-ftp-uploads_002c-automated-35"></a>In order to upload new releases to <code>ftp.gnu.org</code> or
<code>alpha.gnu.org</code>, you first need to register the necessary
information.  Then, you can perform uploads yourself, with no
intervention needed by the system administrators.

   <p>The general idea is that releases should be crytographically signed
before they are made publicly available.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Automated-Upload-Registration">Automated Upload Registration</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#Automated-Upload-Procedure">Automated Upload Procedure</a>
<li><a accesskey="3" href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</a>
<li><a accesskey="4" href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e0">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Automated-Upload-Registration"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Automated-Upload-Procedure">Automated Upload Procedure</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">9.5.1 Automated Upload Registration</h4>

<p><a name="index-registration-for-uploads-36"></a><a name="index-uploads_002c-registration-for-37"></a>
Here is how to register your information so you can perform uploads
for your GNU package:

     <ol type=1 start=1>

     <li>Create an account for yourself at <a href="http://savannah.gnu.org">http://savannah.gnu.org</a>, if
you don't already have one.  By the way, this is also needed to
maintain the web pages at <a href="www.gnu.org">www.gnu.org</a> for your project
(see <a href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>).

     <li>In the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">My Account Conf</span></samp>&rsquo; page on <code>savannah</code>, upload the GPG
key you will use to sign your packages.

     <p>You can create a key with the command <code>gpg --gen-key</code>.  It is
good to also send your key to the GPG public key server: <code>gpg
--keyserver keys.gnupg.net --send-keys </code><var>keyid</var>, where <var>keyid</var>
is the eight hex digits reported by <code>gpg --list-public-keys</code> on
the <code>pub</code> line before the date.  For full information about GPG,
see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gpg">http://www.gnu.org/software/gpg</a>)

     <li>Compose a message with the following items in some <var>msgfile</var>. 
Then GPG-sign it by running <code>gpg --clearsign </code><var>msgfile</var>, and
finally email the resulting <samp><var>msgfile</var><span class="file">.asc</span></samp>), to
<a href="mailto:ftp-upload@gnu.org">ftp-upload@gnu.org</a>.

          <ol type=1 start=1>
<li>Name of package(s) that you are the maintainer for, and your
preferred email address.

          <li>An ASCII armored copy of your GnuPG key, as an attachment.  (&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">gpg
--export -a </span><var>your_key_id</var><span class="samp"> &gt;mykey.asc</span></samp>&rsquo; should give you this.)

          <li>A list of names and preferred email addresses of other individuals you
authorize to make releases for which packages, if any (in the case that you
don't make all releases yourself).

          <li>ASCII armored copies of GnuPG keys for any individuals listed in (3).
          </ol>
        </ol>

   <p>The administrators will acknowledge your message when they have added
the proper GPG keys as authorized to upload files for the
corresponding packages.

   <p>The upload system will email receipts to the given email addresses
when an upload is made, either successfully or unsuccessfully.

<div class="node">
<a name="Automated-Upload-Procedure"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Automated-Upload-Registration">Automated Upload Registration</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">9.5.2 Automated Upload Procedure</h4>

<p><a name="index-uploads-38"></a>
Once you have registered your information as described in the previous
section, you will be able to do ftp uploads for yourself using the
following procedure.

   <p>For each upload destined for <code>ftp.gnu.org</code> or
<code>alpha.gnu.org</code>, three files (a <dfn>triplet</dfn>) need to be
uploaded via ftp to the host <code>ftp-upload.gnu.org</code>.

     <ol type=1 start=1>
<li>The file to be distributed; for example, <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz</span></samp>.

     <li>Detached GPG binary signature file for (1); for example,
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.sig</span></samp>.  Make this with &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">gpg -b foo.tar.gz</span></samp>&rsquo;.

     <li>A clearsigned <dfn>directive file</dfn>; for example,
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.directive.asc</span></samp>.  Make this by preparing the plain
text file <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.directive</span></samp> and then run &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">gpg
--clearsign foo.tar.gz.directive</span></samp>&rsquo;.  See <a href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</a>, for the contents of the directive file.
        </ol>

   <p>The names of the files are important. The signature file must have the
same name as the file to be distributed, with an additional
<samp><span class="file">.sig</span></samp> extension. The directive file must have the same name as
the file to be distributed, with an additional <samp><span class="file">.directive.asc</span></samp>
extension. If you do not follow this naming convention, the upload
<em>will not be processed</em>.

   <p>Since v1.1 of the upload script, it is also possible to upload a
clearsigned directive file on its own (no accompanying <samp><span class="file">.sig</span></samp> or
any other file) to perform certain operations on the server. 
See <a href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</a>, for more information.

   <p>Upload the file(s) via anonymous ftp to <code>ftp-upload.gnu.org</code>. If
the upload is destined for <code>ftp.gnu.org</code>, place the file(s) in
the <samp><span class="file">/incoming/ftp</span></samp> directory. If the upload is destined for
<code>alpha.gnu.org</code>, place the file(s) in the <samp><span class="file">/incoming/alpha</span></samp>
directory.

   <p>Uploads are processed every five minutes.  Uploads that are in
progress while the upload processing script is running are handled
properly, so do not worry about the timing of your upload.  Uploaded
files that belong to an incomplete triplet are deleted automatically
after 24 hours.

   <p>Your designated upload email addresses (see <a href="#Automated-Upload-Registration">Automated Upload Registration</a>)
are sent a message if there are any problems processing an upload for your
package. You also receive a message when your upload has been successfully
processed.

   <p>One automated way to create and transfer the necessary files is to use
the <code>gnupload</code> script, which is available from the
<samp><span class="file">build-aux/</span></samp> directory of the <code>gnulib</code> project at
<a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib">http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnulib</a>.  <code>gnupload</code> can
also remove uploaded files.  Run <code>gnupload --help</code> for a
description and examples.

   <p><code>gnupload</code> uses the <code>ncftpput</code> program to do the actual
transfers; if you don't happen to have the <code>ncftp</code> package
installed, the <code>ncftpput-ftp</code> script in the <samp><span class="file">build-aux/</span></samp>
directory of <code>gnulib</code> serves as a replacement which uses plain
command line <code>ftp</code>.

   <p>If you have difficulties with an upload, email
<a href="mailto:ftp-upload@gnu.org">ftp-upload@gnu.org</a>.

<div class="node">
<a name="FTP-Upload-Directive-File---v1.1"></a>
<a name="FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e0">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Automated-Upload-Procedure">Automated Upload Procedure</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">9.5.3 FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</h4>

<p>The directive file name must end in <samp><span class="file">directive.asc</span></samp>.

   <p>When part of a triplet, the directive file must always contain the
directives <code>version</code>, <code>directory</code> and <code>filename</code>, as
described. In addition, a 'comment' directive is allowed.

   <p>The <code>version</code> directive must always have the value &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">1.1</span></samp>&rsquo;.

   <p>The <code>directory</code> directive specifies the final destination
directory where the uploaded file and its <samp><span class="file">.sig</span></samp> companion are to
be placed.

   <p>The <code>filename</code> directive must contain the name of the file to be
distributed (item&nbsp;(1) above).

   <p>For example, as part of an uploaded triplet, a
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.directive.asc</span></samp> file might contain these lines (before
being gpg clearsigned):

<pre class="example">     version: 1.1
     directory: bar/v1
     filename: foo.tar.gz
     comment: hello world!
</pre>
   <p>This directory line indicates that <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz</span></samp> and
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.sig</span></samp> are part of package <code>bar</code>.  If you uploaded
this triplet to <samp><span class="file">/incoming/ftp</span></samp> and the system positively
authenticates the signatures, the files <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz</span></samp> and
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.sig</span></samp> will be placed in the directory
<samp><span class="file">gnu/bar/v1</span></samp> of the <code>ftp.gnu.org</code> site.

   <p>The directive file can be used to create currently non-existent
directory trees, as long as they are under the package directory for
your package (in the example above, that is <code>bar</code>).

   <p>If you upload a file that already exists in the FTP directory, the
original will simply be archived and replaced with the new upload.

<h4 class="subheading">Standalone directives</h4>

<p>When uploaded by itself, the directive file must contain one or more
of the directives <code>symlink</code>, <code>rmsymlink</code> or <code>archive</code>,
in addition to the obligatory <code>directory</code> and <code>version</code>
directives.  A <code>filename</code> directive is not allowed, and a
<code>comment</code> directive remains optional.

   <p>If you use more than one directive, the directives are executed in the
sequence they are specified in.  If a directive results in an error,
further execution of the upload is aborted.

   <p>Removing a symbolic link (with <code>rmsymlink</code>) which does not exist
results in an error.  However, attempting to create a symbolic link
that already exists (with <code>symlink</code>) is not an error.  In this
case <code>symlink</code> behaves like the command <samp><span class="command">ln -s -f</span></samp>: any
existing symlink is removed before creating the link.  (But an
existing regular file or directory is not removed.)

   <p>Here are a few examples.  The first removes a symlink:

<pre class="example">     version: 1.1
     directory: bar/v1
     rmsymlink: foo-latest.tgz
     comment: remove a symlink
</pre>
   <p class="noindent">Archive an old file, taking it offline:

<pre class="example">     version: 1.1
     directory: bar/v1
     archive: foo-1.1.tar.gz
     comment: archive an old file; it will not be available through FTP anymore
</pre>
   <p class="noindent">Archive an old directory (with all contents), taking it offline:

<pre class="example">     version: 1.1
     directory: bar/v1
     archive: foo
     comment: archive an old directory; it will not be available through FTP anymore
</pre>
   <p class="noindent">Create a new symlink:

<pre class="example">     version: 1.1
     directory: bar/v1
     symlink: foo-1.2.tar.gz foo-latest.tgz
     comment: create a new symlink
</pre>
   <p class="noindent">Do everything at once:

<pre class="example">     version: 1.1
     directory: bar/v1
     rmsymlink: foo-latest.tgz
     symlink: foo-1.2.tar.gz foo-latest.tgz
     archive: foo-1.1.tar.gz
     comment: now do everything at once
</pre>
   <div class="node">
<a name="FTP-Upload-Directive-File---v1.0"></a>
<a name="FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e0"></a>
<p><hr>
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#FTP-Upload-Directive-File-_002d-v1_002e1">FTP Upload Directive File - v1.1</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">9.5.4 FTP Upload Directive File - v1.0</h4>

<p><dfn>As of June 2006, the upload script is running in compatibility
mode, allowing uploads with either version&nbsp;1.1 or
version&nbsp;1.0 of the directive file syntax.  Support for v1.0
uploads will be phased out by the end of 2006, so please upgrade
to&nbsp;v1.1.</dfn>

   <p>The directive file should contain one line, excluding the clearsigned
data GPG that inserts, which specifies the final destination directory
where items (1) and (2) are to be placed.

   <p>For example, the <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.directive.asc</span></samp> file might contain the
single line:

<pre class="example">     directory: bar/v1
</pre>
   <p>This directory line indicates that <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz</span></samp> and
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.sig</span></samp> are part of package <code>bar</code>.  If you were to
upload the triplet to <samp><span class="file">/incoming/ftp</span></samp>, and the system can
positively authenticate the signatures, then the files
<samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz</span></samp> and <samp><span class="file">foo.tar.gz.sig</span></samp> will be placed in the
directory <samp><span class="file">gnu/bar/v1</span></samp> of the <code>ftp.gnu.org</code> site.

   <p>The directive file can be used to create currently non-existent
directory trees, as long as they are under the package directory for
your package (in the example above, that is <code>bar</code>).

<div class="node">
<a name="Announcements"></a>
<p><hr>
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">9.6 Announcing Releases</h3>

<p><a name="index-announcements-39"></a>
<a name="index-g_t_0040code_007binfo_002dgnu_007d-mailing-list-40"></a>When you have a new release, please make an announcement.  For
official new releases, including those made just to fix bugs, we
strongly recommend using the (moderated) general GNU announcements
list, <a href="mailto:info-gnu@gnu.org">info-gnu@gnu.org</a>.  Doing so makes it easier for users
and developers to find the latest GNU releases.  On the other hand,
please do not announce test releases on <code>info-gnu</code> unless it's a
highly unusual situation.

   <p><a name="index-g_t_0040url_007bhttp_003a_002f_002fplanet_002egnu_002eorg_007d-41"></a><a name="index-Savannah_002c-news-area-42"></a>Please also post release announcements in the news section of your
Savannah project site.  It is fine to also write news entries for test
releases and any other newsworthy events.  The news feeds from all GNU
projects at savannah are aggregated at <a href="http://planet.gnu.org">http://planet.gnu.org</a>
(GNU Planet).  You can also post items directly, or arrange for feeds
from other locations; see contact information on the GNU Planet web
page.

   <p><a name="index-announcement-mailing-list_002c-project_002dspecific-43"></a>You can maintain your own mailing list (typically
<a href="mailto:info-<var>program</var>@gnu.org">info-<var>program</var>@gnu.org</a>) for announcements as well if you
like.  For your own list, of course you decide as you see fit what
events are worth announcing.  (See <a href="#Mail">Mail</a>, for more suggestions on
handling mail for your package.)

   <p><a name="index-contents-of-announcements-44"></a>When writing an announcement, please include the following:

     <ul>
<li>A very brief description (a few sentences at most) of the general
purpose of your package.

     <li>Your package's web page (normally
&lt;<code>http://www.gnu.org/software/</code><var>package</var><code>/</code>&gt;).

     <li>Your package's download location (normally
&lt;<code>http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/</code><var>package</var><code>/</code>&gt;).  It is also
useful to mention the FTP mirror list at
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html">http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html</a>, and that
<a href="http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/<var>package/</var>">http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/<var>package/</var></a> will automatically
redirect to a nearby mirror.

     <li>The NEWS (see <a href="standards.html#NEWS-File">NEWS File</a>) for
the present release. 
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Web-Pages"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration">Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Distributions">Distributions</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">10 Web Pages</h2>

<p><a name="index-web-pages-45"></a>
Please write web pages about your package for installation on
<code>www.gnu.org</code>.  They should follow our usual standards for web
pages (see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/server/fsf-html-style-sheet.html">http://www.gnu.org/server/fsf-html-style-sheet.html</a>). 
The overall goals are to support a wide variety of browsers, to focus
on information rather than flashy eye candy, and to keep the site
simple and uniform.

   <p>Some GNU packages have just simple web pages, but the more information
you provide, the better.  So please write as much as you usefully can,
and put all of it on <code>www.gnu.org</code>.  However, pages that access
databases (including mail logs and bug tracking) are an exception; set
them up on whatever site is convenient for you, and make the pages on
<code>www.gnu.org</code> link to that site.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Hosting-for-Web-Pages">Hosting for Web Pages</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#Freedom-for-Web-Pages">Freedom for Web Pages</a>
<li><a accesskey="3" href="#Manuals-on-Web-Pages">Manuals on Web Pages</a>
<li><a accesskey="4" href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Hosting-for-Web-Pages"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Freedom-for-Web-Pages">Freedom for Web Pages</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">10.1 Hosting for Web Pages</h3>

<p>The best way to maintain the web pages for your project is to register
the project on <code>savannah.gnu.org</code>.  Then you can edit the pages
using CVS, using the separate &ldquo;web repository&rdquo; available on
Savannah, which corresponds to
&lt;<code>http://www.gnu.org/software/</code><var>package</var><code>/</code>&gt;.  You can
keep your source files there too (using any of a variety of version
control systems), but you can use <code>savannah.gnu.org</code> only for
your gnu.org web pages if you wish; simply register a &ldquo;web-only&rdquo;
project.

   <p>If you don't want to use that method, please talk with
<a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">webmasters@gnu.org</a> about other possible methods.  For
instance, you can mail them pages to install, if necessary.  But that
is more work for them, so please use Savannah if you can.

   <p>If you use Savannah, you can use a special <samp><span class="file">.symlinks</span></samp> file in
order to create symbolic links, which are not supported in CVS.  For
details, see
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/server/standards/README.webmastering.html#symlinks">http://www.gnu.org/server/standards/README.webmastering.html#symlinks</a>.

<div class="node">
<a name="Freedom-for-Web-Pages"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Manuals-on-Web-Pages">Manuals on Web Pages</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Hosting-for-Web-Pages">Hosting for Web Pages</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">10.2 Freedom for Web Pages</h3>

<p>If you use a site other than <code>www.gnu.org</code>, please make sure that
the site runs on free software alone.  (It is ok if the site uses
unreleased custom software, since that is free in a trivial sense:
there's only one user and it has the four freedoms.)  If the web site
for a GNU package runs on non-free software, the public will see this,
and it will have the effect of granting legitimacy to the non-free
program.

   <p>If you use multiple sites, they should all follow that criterion. 
Please don't link to a site that is about your package, which the
public might perceive as connected with it and reflecting the position
of its developers, unless it follows that criterion.

   <p>Historically, web pages for GNU packages did not include GIF images,
because of patent problems (see <a href="#Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration">Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</a>).  Although the GIF patents expired in 2006, using GIF
images is still not recommended, as the PNG and JPEG formats are
generally superior.  See <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html</a>.

<div class="node">
<a name="Manuals-on-Web-Pages"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Freedom-for-Web-Pages">Freedom for Web Pages</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">10.3 Manuals on Web Pages</h3>

<p>The web pages for the package should include its manuals, in HTML,
DVI, Info, PostScript, PDF, plain ASCII, and Texinfo format (source). 
All of these can be generated automatically from the Texinfo source
using Makeinfo and other programs.

   <p>When there is only one manual, put it in a subdirectory called
<samp><span class="file">manual</span></samp>; the file <samp><span class="file">manual/index.html</span></samp> should have a link to
the manual in each of its forms.

   <p>If the package has more than one manual, put each one in a
subdirectory of <samp><span class="file">manual</span></samp>, set up <samp><span class="file">index.html</span></samp> in each
subdirectory to link to that manual in all its forms, and make
<samp><span class="file">manual/index.html</span></samp> link to each manual through its subdirectory.

   <p>See the section below for details on a script to make the job of
creating all these different formats and index pages easier.

   <p>We would like to include links to all GNU manuals on the page
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/manual">http://www.gnu.org/manual</a>, so if yours isn't listed, please send
mail to <code>webmasters@gnu.org</code> telling them the name of your
package and asking them to edit <a href="http://www.gnu.org/manual">http://www.gnu.org/manual</a>, and
they will do so based on the contents of your <samp><span class="file">manual</span></samp> directory.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Invoking-gendocs_002esh">Invoking gendocs.sh</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Invoking-gendocs.sh"></a>
<a name="Invoking-gendocs_002esh"></a>
<p><hr>
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Manuals-on-Web-Pages">Manuals on Web Pages</a>

</div>

<h4 class="subsection">10.3.1 Invoking <samp><span class="command">gendocs.sh</span></samp></h4>

<p><a name="index-gendocs_002esh-46"></a><a name="index-generating-documentation-output-47"></a>
The script <samp><span class="command">gendocs.sh</span></samp> eases the task of generating the
Texinfo documentation output for your web pages
section above.  It has a companion template file, used as the basis
for the HTML index pages.  Both are available from the Texinfo CVS
sources:

<pre class="smallformat"><a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs.sh">http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs.sh</a>
<a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template">http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template</a>
</pre>
   <p>There is also a minimalistic template, available from:

<pre class="smallformat"><a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template_min">http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template_min</a>
</pre>
   <p>Invoke the script like this, in the directory containing the Texinfo
source:

<pre class="smallexample">     gendocs.sh --email <var>yourbuglist</var> <var>yourmanual</var> "GNU <var>yourmanual</var> manual"
</pre>
   <p class="noindent">where <var>yourmanual</var> is the short name for your package
and <var>yourbuglist</var> is the email address for bug reports (typically
<code>bug-</code><var>package</var><code>@gnu.org</code>).  The script processes the file
<samp><var>yourmanual</var><span class="file">.texinfo</span></samp> (or <samp><span class="file">.texi</span></samp> or <samp><span class="file">.txi</span></samp>).  For
example:

<pre class="smallexample">     cd .../emacs/man
     # download gendocs.sh and gendocs_template
     gendocs.sh --email bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org emacs "GNU Emacs manual"
</pre>
   <p><samp><span class="command">gendocs.sh</span></samp> creates a subdirectory <samp><span class="file">manual/</span></samp> containing
the manual generated in all the standard output formats: Info, HTML,
DVI, and so on, as well as the Texinfo source.  You then need to move
all those files, retaining the subdirectories, into the web pages for
your package.

   <p>You can specify the option <samp><span class="option">-o </span><var>outdir</var></samp> to override the
name <samp><span class="file">manual</span></samp>.  Any previous contents of <var>outdir</var> will be deleted.

   <p>The second argument, with the description, is included as part of the
HTML <code>&lt;title&gt;</code> of the overall <samp><span class="file">manual/index.html</span></samp> file.  It
should include the name of the package being documented, as shown. 
<samp><span class="file">manual/index.html</span></samp> is created by substitution from the file
<samp><span class="file">gendocs_template</span></samp>.  (Feel free to modify the generic template
for your own purposes.)

   <p>If you have several manuals, you'll need to run this script several
times with different arguments, specifying a different output
directory with <samp><span class="option">-o</span></samp> each time, and moving all the output to
your web page.  Then write (by hand) an overall index.html with links
to them all.  For example:

<pre class="smallexample">     cd .../texinfo/doc
     gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@gnu.org -o texinfo texinfo "GNU Texinfo manual"
     gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@gnu.org -o info info "GNU Info manual"
     gendocs.sh --email bug-texinfo@gnu.org -o info-stnd info-stnd "GNU info-stnd manual"
</pre>
   <p>By default, the script uses <samp><span class="command">makeinfo</span></samp> for generating
<acronym>HTML</acronym> output.  If you prefer to use <samp><span class="command">texi2html</span></samp>, use
the <samp><span class="option">--texi2html</span></samp> command line option, e.g.:

<pre class="smallexample">     gendocs --texi2html -o texinfo texinfo "GNU Texinfo manual"
</pre>
   <p>The template files will automatically produce entries for additional
HTML output generated by <samp><span class="command">texi2html</span></samp> (i.e., split by sections
and chapters).

   <p>You can set the environment variables <samp><span class="env">MAKEINFO</span></samp>, <samp><span class="env">TEXI2DVI</span></samp>,
<samp><span class="env">TEXI2HTML</span></samp> and <samp><span class="env">DVIPS</span></samp> to control the programs that get
executed, and <samp><span class="env">GENDOCS_TEMPLATE_DIR</span></samp> to control where the
<samp><span class="file">gendocs_template</span></samp> file is found.

   <p>As usual, run &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">gendocs.sh --help</span></samp>&rsquo; for a description of all the
options, environment variables, and more information.

   <p>Please email bug reports, enhancement requests, or other
correspondence to <a href="mailto:bug-texinfo@gnu.org">bug-texinfo@gnu.org</a>.

<div class="node">
<a name="CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages"></a>
<p><hr>
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Manuals-on-Web-Pages">Manuals on Web Pages</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">10.4 CVS Keywords in Web Pages</h3>

<p><a name="index-CVS-keywords-in-web-pages-48"></a><a name="index-RCS-keywords-in-web-pages-49"></a><a name="index-g_t_0024-keywords-in-web-pages-50"></a><a name="index-web-pages_002c-and-CVS-keywords-51"></a>
Since <code>www.gnu.org</code> works through CVS, CVS keywords in your
manual, such as <code>$<!-- /@w -->Log$</code>, need special treatment (even if you
don't happen to maintain your manual in CVS).

   <p>If these keywords end up in the generated output as literal strings,
they will be expanded.  The most robust way to handle this is to turn
off keyword expansion for such generated files.  For existing files,
this is done with:

<pre class="example">     cvs admin -ko <var>file1</var> <var>file2</var> ...
</pre>
   <p class="noindent">For new files:

<pre class="example">     cvs add -ko <var>file1</var> <var>file2</var> ...
</pre>
   <p>See <a href="cvs.html#Keyword-substitution">Keyword substitution</a>.

   <p>In Texinfo source, the recommended way to literally specify a
&ldquo;dollar&rdquo; keyword is:

<pre class="example">     @w{$}Log$
</pre>
   <p>The <code>@w</code> prevents keyword expansion in the Texinfo source
itself.  Also, <code>makeinfo</code> notices the <code>@w</code> and generates
output avoiding the literal keyword string.

<div class="node">
<a name="Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Terminology">Terminology</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">11 Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</h2>

<p><a name="index-ethics-52"></a><a name="index-philosophy-53"></a>
The GNU project takes a strong stand for software freedom.  Many
times, this means you'll need to avoid certain technologies when their
use would conflict with our long-term goals.

   <p>Software patents threaten the advancement of free software and freedom
to program.  There are so many software patents in the US that any
large program probably implements hundreds of patented techniques,
unknown to the program's developers.  It would be futile and
self-defeating to try to find and avoid all these patents.  But there
are some patents which we know are likely to be used to threaten free
software, so we make an effort to avoid the patented techniques.  If
you are concerned about the danger of a patent and would like advice,
write to <a href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org">maintainers@gnu.org</a>, and we will try to help you get
advice from a lawyer.

   <p>Sometimes the GNU project takes a strong stand against a particular
patented technology in order to encourage society to reject it.

   <p>For example, the MP3 audio format is covered by a software patent in
the USA and some other countries.  A patent holder has threatened
lawsuits against the developers of free programs (these are not GNU
programs) to produce and play MP3, and some GNU/Linux distributors are
afraid to include them.  Development of the programs continues, but we
campaign for the rejection of MP3 format in favor of Ogg Vorbis format.

   <p>A GNU package should not recommend use of any non-free program, nor
should it require a non-free program (such as a non-free compiler or
IDE) to build.  Thus, a GNU package cannot be written in a programming
language that does not have a free software implementation.  Now that
GNU/Linux systems are widely available, all GNU packages should
provide full functionality on a 100% free GNU/Linux system, and should
not require any non-free software to build or function. 
The GNU Coding Standards say a lot more about this issue.

   <p>A GNU package should not refer the user to any non-free documentation
for free software.  The need for free documentation to come with free
software is now a major focus of the GNU project; to show that we are
serious about the need for free documentation, we must not contradict
our position by recommending use of documentation that isn't free.

   <p>Finally, new issues concerning the ethics of software freedom come up
frequently.  We ask that GNU maintainers, at least on matters that
pertain specifically to their package, stand with the rest of the GNU
project when such issues come up.

<div class="node">
<a name="Terminology"></a>
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Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">12 Terminology Issues</h2>

<p><a name="index-terminology-54"></a>
This chapter explains a couple of issues of terminology which are
important for correcting two widespread and important misunderstandings
about GNU.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="#Free-Software-and-Open-Source">Free Software and Open Source</a>
<li><a accesskey="2" href="#GNU-and-Linux">GNU and Linux</a>
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="Free-Software-and-Open-Source"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#GNU-and-Linux">GNU and Linux</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Terminology">Terminology</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">12.1 Free Software and Open Source</h3>

<p><a name="index-free-software-55"></a><a name="index-open-source-56"></a><a name="index-movements_002c-Free-Software-and-Open-Source-57"></a>
The terms &ldquo;free software&rdquo; and &ldquo;open source&rdquo; are the slogans of two
different movements which differ in their basic philosophy.  The Free
Software Movement is idealistic, and raises issues of freedom, ethics,
principle and what makes for a good society.  The Open Source Movement,
founded in 1998, studiously avoids such questions.  For more explanation,
see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html</a>.

   <p>The GNU Project is aligned with the Free Software Movement.  This
doesn't mean that all GNU contributors and maintainers have to agree;
your views on these issues are up to you, and you're entitled to express
them when speaking for yourself.

   <p>However, due to the much greater publicity that the Open Source
Movement receives, the GNU Project needs to overcome a widespread
mistaken impression that GNU is <em>and always was</em> an activity of
the Open Source Movement.  For this reason, please use the term &ldquo;free
software&rdquo;, not &ldquo;open source&rdquo;, in GNU software releases, GNU
documentation, and announcements and articles that you publish in your
role as the maintainer of a GNU package.  A reference to the URL given
above, to explain the difference, is a useful thing to include as
well.

<div class="node">
<a name="GNU-and-Linux"></a>
<p><hr>
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Free-Software-and-Open-Source">Free Software and Open Source</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Terminology">Terminology</a>

</div>

<h3 class="section">12.2 GNU and Linux</h3>

<p><a name="index-Linux-58"></a><a name="index-GNU_002fLinux-59"></a>
The GNU Project was formed to develop a free Unix-like operating system,
GNU.  The existence of this system is our major accomplishment. 
However, the widely used version of the GNU system, in which Linux is
used as the kernel, is often called simply &ldquo;Linux&rdquo;.  As a result, most
users don't know about the GNU Project's major accomplishment&mdash;or more
precisely, they know about it, but don't realize it is the GNU Project's
accomplishment and reason for existence.  Even people who believe they
know the real history often believe that the goal of GNU was to develop
&ldquo;tools&rdquo; or &ldquo;utilities.&rdquo;

   <p>To correct this confusion, we have made a years-long effort to
distinguish between Linux, the kernel that Linus Torvalds wrote, and
GNU/Linux, the operating system that is the combination of GNU and
Linux.  The resulting increased awareness of what the GNU Project has
already done helps every activity of the GNU Project recruit more
support and contributors.

   <p>Please make this distinction consistently in GNU software releases, GNU
documentation, and announcements and articles that you publish in your
role as the maintainer of a GNU package.  If you want to explain the
terminology and its reasons, you can refer to the URL
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html">http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html</a>.

   <p>To contrast the GNU system properly with respect to GNU/Linux, you can
call it &ldquo;GNU/Hurd&rdquo; or &ldquo;the GNU/Hurd system.&rdquo;  However, when that
contrast is not specifically the focus, please call it just &ldquo;GNU&rdquo; or
&ldquo;the GNU system.&rdquo;

   <p>When referring to the collection of servers that is the higher level
of the GNU kernel, please call it &ldquo;the Hurd&rdquo; or &ldquo;the GNU Hurd.&rdquo;
Note that this uses a space, not a slash.

<div class="node">
<a name="Hosting"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Free-Software-Directory">Free Software Directory</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Terminology">Terminology</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">13 Hosting</h2>

<p><a name="index-CVS-repository-60"></a><a name="index-repository-61"></a><a name="index-source-repository-62"></a><a name="index-version-control-system-63"></a><a name="index-FTP-site-64"></a><a name="index-hosting-65"></a>
We recommend using <code>savannah.gnu.org</code> for the source code
repository for your package, and, even more so, using
<code>ftp.gnu.org</code> as the standard distribution site.  Doing so makes
it easier for developers and users to find the latest GNU releases. 
See <a href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a>, for more information about Savannah.

   <p>However, it is ok to use other machines if you wish.  If you use a
company's machine to hold the repository for your program, or as its
ftp site, please put this statement in a prominent place on the site,
so as to prevent people from getting the wrong idea about the
relationship between the package and the company:

<pre class="smallexample">     The programs &lt;list of them&gt; hosted here are free software packages
     of the GNU Project, not products of &lt;company name&gt;.  We call them
     "free software" because you are free to copy and redistribute them,
     following the rules stated in the license of each package.  For more
     information, see http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html.
     
     If you are looking for service or support for GNU software, see
     http://www.gnu.org/help/gethelp.html for suggestions of where to ask.
     
     If you would like to contribute to the development of one of these
     packages, contact the package maintainer or the bug-reporting address
     of the package (which should be listed in the package itself), or look
     on www.gnu.org for more information on how to contribute.
</pre>
   <div class="node">
<a name="Free-Software-Directory"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Using-the-Proofreaders-List">Using the Proofreaders List</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Hosting">Hosting</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">14 Free Software Directory</h2>

<p><a name="index-Free-Software-Directory-66"></a><a name="index-Directory_002c-Free-Software-67"></a>
The Free Software Directory aims to be a complete list of free
software packages, within certain criteria.  Every GNU package should
be listed there, so please see
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/help/directory.html#adding-entries">http://www.gnu.org/help/directory.html#adding-entries</a> for
information on how to write an entry for your package.  Contact
<a href="mailto:bug-directory@gnu.org">bug-directory@gnu.org</a> with any questions or suggestions for
the Free Software Directory.

<div class="node">
<a name="Using-the-Proofreaders-List"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#GNU-Free-Documentation-License">GNU Free Documentation License</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Free-Software-Directory">Free Software Directory</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="chapter">15 Using the Proofreaders List</h2>

<p><a name="index-proofreading-68"></a>
If you want help finding errors in documentation,
or help improving the quality of writing,
or if you are not a native speaker of English
and want help producing good English documentation,
you can use the GNU proofreaders mailing list:
<a href="mailto:proofreaders@gnu.org">proofreaders@gnu.org</a>.

   <p>But be careful when you use the list,
because there are over 200 people on it. 
If you simply ask everyone on the list to read your work,
there will probably be tremendous duplication of effort
by the proofreaders,
and you will probably get the same errors reported 100 times. 
This must be avoided.

   <p>Also, the people on the list do not want to get
a large amount of mail from it. 
So do not ever ask people on the list to send mail to the list!

   <p>Here are a few methods that seem reasonable to use:

     <ul>
<li>For something small, mail it to the list,
and ask people to pick a random number from 1 to 20,
and read it if the number comes out as 10. 
This way, assuming 50% response, some 5 people will read the piece.

     <li>For a larger work, divide your work into around 20 equal-sized parts,
tell people where to get it,
and ask each person to pick randomly which part to read.

     <p>Be sure to specify the random choice procedure;
otherwise people will probably use a mental procedure
that is not really random,
such as &ldquo;pick a part near the middle&rdquo;,
and you will not get even coverage.

     <p>You can either divide up the work physically, into 20 separate files,
or describe a virtual division, such as by sections
(if your work has approximately 20 sections). 
If you do the latter, be sure to be precise about it&mdash;for example,
do you want the material before the first section heading
to count as a section, or not?

     <li>For a job needing special skills, send an explanation of it,
and ask people to send you mail if they volunteer for the job. 
When you get enough volunteers, send another message to the list saying
&ldquo;I have enough volunteers, no more please.&rdquo;
</ul>

<div class="node">
<a name="GNU-Free-Documentation-License"></a>
<p><hr>
Next:&nbsp;<a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="#Index">Index</a>,
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#Using-the-Proofreaders-List">Using the Proofreaders List</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="appendix">Appendix A GNU Free Documentation License</h2>

<p><a name="index-FDL_002c-GNU-Free-Documentation-License-69"></a>

<!-- The GNU Free Documentation License. -->
<div align="center">Version 1.3, 3 November 2008</div>

<!-- This file is intended to be included within another document, -->
<!-- hence no sectioning command or @node. -->
<pre class="display">     Copyright &copy; 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
     <a href="http://fsf.org/">http://fsf.org/</a>
     
     Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
     of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
</pre>
     <ol type=1 start=0>
<li>PREAMBLE

     <p>The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
functional and useful document <dfn>free</dfn> in the sense of freedom: to
assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it,
with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. 
Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way
to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible
for modifications made by others.

     <p>This License is a kind of &ldquo;copyleft&rdquo;, which means that derivative
works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.  It
complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
license designed for free software.

     <p>We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free
software, because free software needs free documentation: a free
program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the
software does.  But this License is not limited to software manuals;
it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or
whether it is published as a printed book.  We recommend this License
principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference.

     <li>APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS

     <p>This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that
contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be
distributed under the terms of this License.  Such a notice grants a
world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use that
work under the conditions stated herein.  The &ldquo;Document&rdquo;, below,
refers to any such manual or work.  Any member of the public is a
licensee, and is addressed as &ldquo;you&rdquo;.  You accept the license if you
copy, modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission
under copyright law.

     <p>A &ldquo;Modified Version&rdquo; of the Document means any work containing the
Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with
modifications and/or translated into another language.

     <p>A &ldquo;Secondary Section&rdquo; is a named appendix or a front-matter section
of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the
publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall
subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could fall
directly within that overall subject.  (Thus, if the Document is in
part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain
any mathematics.)  The relationship could be a matter of historical
connection with the subject or with related matters, or of legal,
commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position regarding
them.

     <p>The &ldquo;Invariant Sections&rdquo; are certain Secondary Sections whose titles
are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice
that says that the Document is released under this License.  If a
section does not fit the above definition of Secondary then it is not
allowed to be designated as Invariant.  The Document may contain zero
Invariant Sections.  If the Document does not identify any Invariant
Sections then there are none.

     <p>The &ldquo;Cover Texts&rdquo; are certain short passages of text that are listed,
as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that
the Document is released under this License.  A Front-Cover Text may
be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.

     <p>A &ldquo;Transparent&rdquo; copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
represented in a format whose specification is available to the
general public, that is suitable for revising the document
straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed of
pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some widely available
drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text formatters or
for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for input
to text formatters.  A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file
format whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart
or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. 
An image format is not Transparent if used for any substantial amount
of text.  A copy that is not &ldquo;Transparent&rdquo; is called &ldquo;Opaque&rdquo;.

     <p>Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain
<span class="sc">ascii</span> without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input
format, <acronym>SGML</acronym> or <acronym>XML</acronym> using a publicly available
<acronym>DTD</acronym>, and standard-conforming simple <acronym>HTML</acronym>,
PostScript or <acronym>PDF</acronym> designed for human modification.  Examples
of transparent image formats include <acronym>PNG</acronym>, <acronym>XCF</acronym> and
<acronym>JPG</acronym>.  Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be
read and edited only by proprietary word processors, <acronym>SGML</acronym> or
<acronym>XML</acronym> for which the <acronym>DTD</acronym> and/or processing tools are
not generally available, and the machine-generated <acronym>HTML</acronym>,
PostScript or <acronym>PDF</acronym> produced by some word processors for
output purposes only.

     <p>The &ldquo;Title Page&rdquo; means, for a printed book, the title page itself,
plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material
this License requires to appear in the title page.  For works in
formats which do not have any title page as such, &ldquo;Title Page&rdquo; means
the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title,
preceding the beginning of the body of the text.

     <p>The &ldquo;publisher&rdquo; means any person or entity that distributes copies
of the Document to the public.

     <p>A section &ldquo;Entitled XYZ&rdquo; means a named subunit of the Document whose
title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following
text that translates XYZ in another language.  (Here XYZ stands for a
specific section name mentioned below, such as &ldquo;Acknowledgements&rdquo;,
&ldquo;Dedications&rdquo;, &ldquo;Endorsements&rdquo;, or &ldquo;History&rdquo;.)  To &ldquo;Preserve the Title&rdquo;
of such a section when you modify the Document means that it remains a
section &ldquo;Entitled XYZ&rdquo; according to this definition.

     <p>The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which
states that this License applies to the Document.  These Warranty
Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in this
License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other
implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and has
no effect on the meaning of this License.

     <li>VERBATIM COPYING

     <p>You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either
commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the
copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies
to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other
conditions whatsoever to those of this License.  You may not use
technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further
copying of the copies you make or distribute.  However, you may accept
compensation in exchange for copies.  If you distribute a large enough
number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.

     <p>You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and
you may publicly display copies.

     <li>COPYING IN QUANTITY

     <p>If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have
printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the
Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the
copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover
Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on
the back cover.  Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify
you as the publisher of these copies.  The front cover must present
the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and
visible.  You may add other material on the covers in addition. 
Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve
the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated
as verbatim copying in other respects.

     <p>If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit
legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit
reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent
pages.

     <p>If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering
more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent
copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy
a computer-network location from which the general network-using
public has access to download using public-standard network protocols
a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. 
If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps,
when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure
that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated
location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an
Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that
edition to the public.

     <p>It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the
Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give
them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document.

     <li>MODIFICATIONS

     <p>You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under
the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release
the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified
Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution
and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy
of it.  In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version:

          <ol type=A start=1>
<li>Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct
from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions
(which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section
of the Document).  You may use the same title as a previous version
if the original publisher of that version gives permission.

          <li>List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities
responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified
Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the
Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five),
unless they release you from this requirement.

          <li>State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the
Modified Version, as the publisher.

          <li>Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.

          <li>Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications
adjacent to the other copyright notices.

          <li>Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice
giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the
terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.

          <li>Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections
and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.

          <li>Include an unaltered copy of this License.

          <li>Preserve the section Entitled &ldquo;History&rdquo;, Preserve its Title, and add
to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and
publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page.  If
there is no section Entitled &ldquo;History&rdquo; in the Document, create one
stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as
given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified
Version as stated in the previous sentence.

          <li>Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for
public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise
the network locations given in the Document for previous versions
it was based on.  These may be placed in the &ldquo;History&rdquo; section. 
You may omit a network location for a work that was published at
least four years before the Document itself, or if the original
publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.

          <li>For any section Entitled &ldquo;Acknowledgements&rdquo; or &ldquo;Dedications&rdquo;, Preserve
the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the
substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or
dedications given therein.

          <li>Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
unaltered in their text and in their titles.  Section numbers
or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.

          <li>Delete any section Entitled &ldquo;Endorsements&rdquo;.  Such a section
may not be included in the Modified Version.

          <li>Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled &ldquo;Endorsements&rdquo; or
to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.

          <li>Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
          </ol>

     <p>If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material
copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all
of these sections as invariant.  To do this, add their titles to the
list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. 
These titles must be distinct from any other section titles.

     <p>You may add a section Entitled &ldquo;Endorsements&rdquo;, provided it contains
nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various
parties&mdash;for example, statements of peer review or that the text has
been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a
standard.

     <p>You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a
passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list
of Cover Texts in the Modified Version.  Only one passage of
Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or
through arrangements made by) any one entity.  If the Document already
includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added by you or
by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of,
you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit
permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.

     <p>The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License
give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or
imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

     <li>COMBINING DOCUMENTS

     <p>You may combine the Document with other documents released under this
License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified
versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the
Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and
list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its
license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.

     <p>The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single
copy.  If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but
different contents, make the title of each such section unique by
adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the original
author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique number. 
Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of
Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.

     <p>In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled &ldquo;History&rdquo;
in the various original documents, forming one section Entitled
&ldquo;History&rdquo;; likewise combine any sections Entitled &ldquo;Acknowledgements&rdquo;,
and any sections Entitled &ldquo;Dedications&rdquo;.  You must delete all
sections Entitled &ldquo;Endorsements.&rdquo;

     <li>COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

     <p>You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents
released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this
License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in
the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for
verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects.

     <p>You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute
it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this
License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all
other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document.

     <li>AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

     <p>A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate
and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or
distribution medium, is called an &ldquo;aggregate&rdquo; if the copyright
resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights
of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. 
When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not
apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves
derivative works of the Document.

     <p>If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half of
the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on
covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the
electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form. 
Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the whole
aggregate.

     <li>TRANSLATION

     <p>Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. 
Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special
permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
original versions of these Invariant Sections.  You may include a
translation of this License, and all the license notices in the
Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include
the original English version of this License and the original versions
of those notices and disclaimers.  In case of a disagreement between
the translation and the original version of this License or a notice
or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.

     <p>If a section in the Document is Entitled &ldquo;Acknowledgements&rdquo;,
&ldquo;Dedications&rdquo;, or &ldquo;History&rdquo;, the requirement (section 4) to Preserve
its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual
title.

     <li>TERMINATION

     <p>You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
except as expressly provided under this License.  Any attempt
otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute it is void, and
will automatically terminate your rights under this License.

     <p>However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your license
from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a) provisionally,
unless and until the copyright holder explicitly and finally
terminates your license, and (b) permanently, if the copyright holder
fails to notify you of the violation by some reasonable means prior to
60 days after the cessation.

     <p>Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is
reinstated permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the
violation by some reasonable means, this is the first time you have
received notice of violation of this License (for any work) from that
copyright holder, and you cure the violation prior to 30 days after
your receipt of the notice.

     <p>Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the
licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from you under
this License.  If your rights have been terminated and not permanently
reinstated, receipt of a copy of some or all of the same material does
not give you any rights to use it.

     <li>FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

     <p>The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions
of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time.  Such new
versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.  See
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/</a>.

     <p>Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. 
If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this
License &ldquo;or any later version&rdquo; applies to it, you have the option of
following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or
of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the
Free Software Foundation.  If the Document does not specify a version
number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not
as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.  If the Document
specifies that a proxy can decide which future versions of this
License can be used, that proxy's public statement of acceptance of a
version permanently authorizes you to choose that version for the
Document.

     <li>RELICENSING

     <p>&ldquo;Massive Multiauthor Collaboration Site&rdquo; (or &ldquo;MMC Site&rdquo;) means any
World Wide Web server that publishes copyrightable works and also
provides prominent facilities for anybody to edit those works.  A
public wiki that anybody can edit is an example of such a server.  A
&ldquo;Massive Multiauthor Collaboration&rdquo; (or &ldquo;MMC&rdquo;) contained in the
site means any set of copyrightable works thus published on the MMC
site.

     <p>&ldquo;CC-BY-SA&rdquo; means the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
license published by Creative Commons Corporation, a not-for-profit
corporation with a principal place of business in San Francisco,
California, as well as future copyleft versions of that license
published by that same organization.

     <p>&ldquo;Incorporate&rdquo; means to publish or republish a Document, in whole or
in part, as part of another Document.

     <p>An MMC is &ldquo;eligible for relicensing&rdquo; if it is licensed under this
License, and if all works that were first published under this License
somewhere other than this MMC, and subsequently incorporated in whole
or in part into the MMC, (1) had no cover texts or invariant sections,
and (2) were thus incorporated prior to November 1, 2008.

     <p>The operator of an MMC Site may republish an MMC contained in the site
under CC-BY-SA on the same site at any time before August 1, 2009,
provided the MMC is eligible for relicensing.

        </ol>

<h3 class="heading">ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents</h3>

<p>To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and
license notices just after the title page:

<pre class="smallexample">       Copyright (C)  <var>year</var>  <var>your name</var>.
       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
       under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
       or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
       with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
       Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
       Free Documentation License''.
</pre>
   <p>If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts,
replace the &ldquo;with<small class="dots">...</small>Texts.&rdquo; line with this:

<pre class="smallexample">         with the Invariant Sections being <var>list their titles</var>, with
         the Front-Cover Texts being <var>list</var>, and with the Back-Cover Texts
         being <var>list</var>.
</pre>
   <p>If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other
combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the
situation.

   <p>If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License,
to permit their use in free software.

<!-- Local Variables: -->
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<div class="node">
<a name="Index"></a>
<p><hr>
Previous:&nbsp;<a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="#GNU-Free-Documentation-License">GNU Free Documentation License</a>,
Up:&nbsp;<a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="#Top">Top</a>

</div>

<h2 class="unnumbered">Index</h2>

<ul class="index-cp" compact>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0024-keywords-in-web-pages-50">$ keywords in web pages</a>: <a href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040file_007b_002fgd_002fgnuorg_007d-directory-8"><samp><span class="file">/gd/gnuorg</span></samp> directory</a>: <a href="#Copyright-Papers">Copyright Papers</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007balpha_002egnu_002eorg_007d_002c-ftp-site-for-test-releases-34"><code>alpha.gnu.org</code>, ftp site for test releases</a>: <a href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-announcement-mailing-list_002c-project_002dspecific-43">announcement mailing list, project-specific</a>: <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-announcements-39">announcements</a>: <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040file_007bAUTHORS_007d-file-11"><samp><span class="file">AUTHORS</span></samp> file</a>: <a href="#Recording-Contributors">Recording Contributors</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-automake-24"><code>automake</code></a>: <a href="#Distribution-tar-Files">Distribution tar Files</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-beta-releases-32">beta releases</a>: <a href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-bug-reports-16">bug reports</a>: <a href="#Mail">Mail</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-contents-of-announcements-44">contents of announcements</a>: <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-contributions_002c-accepting-14">contributions, accepting</a>: <a href="#Clean-Ups">Clean Ups</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-copyright-notices-in-program-files-12">copyright notices in program files</a>: <a href="#Copyright-Notices">Copyright Notices</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-copyright-papers-6">copyright papers</a>: <a href="#Copyright-Papers">Copyright Papers</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-CVS-keywords-in-web-pages-48">CVS keywords in web pages</a>: <a href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-CVS-repository-60">CVS repository</a>: <a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-data-base-of-GNU-copyright-assignments-7">data base of GNU copyright assignments</a>: <a href="#Copyright-Papers">Copyright Papers</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-diff-26"><code>diff</code></a>: <a href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-Directory_002c-Free-Software-67">Directory, Free Software</a>: <a href="#Free-Software-Directory">Free Software Directory</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-distribution_002c-tar-files-23">distribution, tar files</a>: <a href="#Distribution-tar-Files">Distribution tar Files</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-email_002c-for-receiving-bug-reports-17">email, for receiving bug reports</a>: <a href="#Mail">Mail</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-ethics-52">ethics</a>: <a href="#Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration">Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-FDL_002c-GNU-Free-Documentation-License-69">FDL, GNU Free Documentation License</a>: <a href="#GNU-Free-Documentation-License">GNU Free Documentation License</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-free-software-55">free software</a>: <a href="#Free-Software-and-Open-Source">Free Software and Open Source</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-Free-Software-Directory-66">Free Software Directory</a>: <a href="#Free-Software-Directory">Free Software Directory</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-FTP-site-64">FTP site</a>: <a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-ftp-uploads_002c-automated-35">ftp uploads, automated</a>: <a href="#Automated-FTP-Uploads">Automated FTP Uploads</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007bftp_002egnu_002eorg_007d_002c-the-GNU-ftp-site-30"><code>ftp.gnu.org</code>, the GNU ftp site</a>: <a href="#Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg">Distribution on ftp.gnu.org</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-gendocs_002esh-46"><code>gendocs.sh</code></a>: <a href="#Invoking-gendocs_002esh">Invoking gendocs.sh</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-generating-documentation-output-47">generating documentation output</a>: <a href="#Invoking-gendocs_002esh">Invoking gendocs.sh</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-GNU-ftp-site-29">GNU ftp site</a>: <a href="#Distribution-on-ftp_002egnu_002eorg">Distribution on ftp.gnu.org</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-GNU_002fLinux-59">GNU/Linux</a>: <a href="#GNU-and-Linux">GNU and Linux</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007bgnustandards_002dcommit_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-mailing-list-1"><code>gnustandards-commit@gnu.org</code> mailing list</a>: <a href="#Preface">Preface</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-hosting-65">hosting</a>: <a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040url_007bhttp_003a_002f_002fplanet_002egnu_002eorg_007d-41"><a href="http://planet.gnu.org">http://planet.gnu.org</a></a>: <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007binfo_002dgnu_007d-mailing-list-40"><code>info-gnu</code> mailing list</a>: <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-legal-matters-5">legal matters</a>: <a href="#Legal-Matters">Legal Matters</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-legal-papers-for-changes-in-manuals-9">legal papers for changes in manuals</a>: <a href="#Copyright-Papers">Copyright Papers</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-license-notices-in-program-files-13">license notices in program files</a>: <a href="#License-Notices">License Notices</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-Linux-58">Linux</a>: <a href="#GNU-and-Linux">GNU and Linux</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-mailing-list-for-bug-reports-18">mailing list for bug reports</a>: <a href="#Mail">Mail</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007bmaintainers_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-email-address-2"><code>maintainers@gnu.org</code> email address</a>: <a href="#Preface">Preface</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007bmentors_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-mailing-list-3"><code>mentors@gnu.org</code> mailing list</a>: <a href="#Preface">Preface</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-movements_002c-Free-Software-and-Open-Source-57">movements, Free Software and Open Source</a>: <a href="#Free-Software-and-Open-Source">Free Software and Open Source</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-open-source-56">open source</a>: <a href="#Free-Software-and-Open-Source">Free Software and Open Source</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-patch-27"><code>patch</code></a>: <a href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-patches_002c-against-previous-releases-25">patches, against previous releases</a>: <a href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-philosophy-53">philosophy</a>: <a href="#Ethical-and-Philosophical-Consideration">Ethical and Philosophical Consideration</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-Piercy_002c-Marge-4">Piercy, Marge</a>: <a href="#Preface">Preface</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-pretest-releases-33">pretest releases</a>: <a href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-proofreading-68">proofreading</a>: <a href="#Using-the-Proofreaders-List">Using the Proofreaders List</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-quality-of-changes-suggested-by-others-15">quality of changes suggested by others</a>: <a href="#Clean-Ups">Clean Ups</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-RCS-keywords-in-web-pages-49">RCS keywords in web pages</a>: <a href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-recording-contributors-10">recording contributors</a>: <a href="#Recording-Contributors">Recording Contributors</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-registration-for-uploads-36">registration for uploads</a>: <a href="#Automated-Upload-Registration">Automated Upload Registration</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-repository-61">repository</a>: <a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-responding-to-bug-reports-19">responding to bug reports</a>: <a href="#Mail">Mail</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-Savannah_002c-news-area-42">Savannah, news area</a>: <a href="#Announcements">Announcements</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007bsavannah_002dannounce_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-mailing-list-22"><code>savannah-announce@gnu.org</code> mailing list</a>: <a href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-g_t_0040code_007bsavannah_002dhackers_0040_0040gnu_002eorg_007d-21"><code>savannah-hackers@gnu.org</code></a>: <a href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-source-repository-62">source repository</a>: <a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-terminology-54">terminology</a>: <a href="#Terminology">Terminology</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-test-releases-31">test releases</a>: <a href="#Test-Releases">Test Releases</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-time-stamp-in-diffs-28">time stamp in diffs</a>: <a href="#Distribution-Patches">Distribution Patches</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-uploads-38">uploads</a>: <a href="#Automated-Upload-Procedure">Automated Upload Procedure</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-uploads_002c-registration-for-37">uploads, registration for</a>: <a href="#Automated-Upload-Registration">Automated Upload Registration</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-version-control-20">version control</a>: <a href="#Old-Versions">Old Versions</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-version-control-system-63">version control system</a>: <a href="#Hosting">Hosting</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-web-pages-45">web pages</a>: <a href="#Web-Pages">Web Pages</a></li>
<li><a href="#index-web-pages_002c-and-CVS-keywords-51">web pages, and CVS keywords</a>: <a href="#CVS-Keywords-in-Web-Pages">CVS Keywords in Web Pages</a></li>
   </ul></body></html>
gnu-standards 2010.03.11-1 / usr / share / doc / gnu-standards / maintain.html
