Re: [Savannah-hackers] submission of Behemot Ircd Server - savannah.gnu.org

[Rudy Gevaert]

On Mon, Aug 25, 2003 at 06:43:27PM +0200, ^DunE^++ wrote:
> Excuse for the mail. This is my first gpl project and i'd like to know some
> things regarding the last mail: what make my project a non-gnu project? What
> can I do to make it suitable for the gnu project category?

At savannah.gnu.org we provide services for GNU projects.  There is a
companion site savannah.nongnu.org where we also host Free Software
projects that are not part of the GNU Project, but run on free
platforms.

We make the distinction between GNU and non-GNU projects so that it is
clear which projects are part of the GNU project and which ones are
not.

>From our FAQ:
What does it mean to become a GNU package ?

 Calling a program GNU software means that its developers and the GNU
 project agree that "This program is part of the GNU project, released
 under the aegis of GNU"--and say so in the program. 

This means that we normally put the program on ftp.gnu.org (although
we could instead refer to the developer's choice of ftp site) and that
we put the official pages describing the program on the GNU web
server. (It is ok to have more informal pages about secondary issues,
such as discussion meant for people who want to help develop the
package, on some other site.) 

It means that the developers agree to pay some attention to making the
program work well with the rest of the GNU system--and conversely that
the GNU project will encourage other GNU maintainers to pay some
attention to making their programs fit in well with it. 

Just what it means to make programs work well together is mainly a
practical matter that depends on what the program does. But there are
a few general principles. Certain parts of the GNU coding standards
directly affect the consistency of the whole system. These include the
standards for configuring and building a program, and the standards
for command-line options. It is important to make all GNU programs
follow these standards, where they are applicable. 

Another important GNU standard is that GNU programs should come with
documentation in Texinfo format. That is the GNU standard
documentation format, and it can be converted automatically into
various other formats. 

If a GNU program wants to be extensible, it should use GUILE
(http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/guile.html) as the programming
language for extensibility--that is the GNU standard extensibility
package. If the program doesn't use GUILE today, at least there should
be a firm plan to support it in the future. 

A GNU program should use the latest version of a license that the GNU
Project recommends--not just any free software license. 

A GNU program should not recommend use of any non-free program, and it
should not refer the user to any non-free documentation for free
software. The need for free documentation to go 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. 

Occasionally there are issues of terminology which are important for
the success of the GNU project as a whole. So we expect maintainers of
GNU programs to follow them. For example, the documentation files and
comments in the program should speak of Linux-based GNU systems or
GNU/Linux systems, rather than calling the whole system "Linux", and
should use the term "free software" rather than "open source". 

Deciding that a program is GNU software does not necessarily require
transferring copyright to the FSF; that is a separate question. If you
transfer the copyright to the FSF, the FSF will enforce the GPL for
the program if someone violates it; if you keep the copyright,
enforcement will be up to you. 


-/ end faq

Someone will contact you to investigate if your project is ready to be
part of the GNU project.

Rudy

-- 
Rudy Gevaert                address@hidden              
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