Hi,
I am Jonas �berg, an FSF volunteer, GNU webmaster, system-hacker and
various other tidbits. Linas told me to discuss these issues on this
list, so here goes. I have two topics I'd like to present;
First out is the -GNU- part of Gnu Cash. Linas tells me that
about a year ago there was a general consensus that the Gnu Cash
should be part of the GNU Project. Is this still so? I'm including
a text below that explains what it means for a program to be part
of the GNU Project.
Second out is a project which I feel very much for. It's the GNU
General Ledger which aims at creating a professional economy system
for accounts payable, account receivables, payroll, inventory control,
order processing and more. GNU-GL will probably be a very advanced
system when it's ready, whilst GnuCash aims at providing a simpler and
more easy-to-use accounting program for the personal-finance area.
However, I'm introducing this with hopes that we will find ways to
cooperate once we begin more serious work. We're currently very much
is the planning stages so I'll probably come back to this topic later.
I've invited one of our coders, Mr. Allan Wind, to this forum aswell
and I hope he'll join us soon if he hasn't done so already.
Jonas
======================================================================
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 we would normally put the program on ftp.gnu.org (although
we could instead refer to the developer's choice of ftp site) and we
would want to put pages about the program on the GNU web server.
It means that the developers would agree pay some attention to making
the program work well with the rest of the GNU system--and conversely
that the GNU project would 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.
A GNU program should not recommend use of any non-free program, and it
should not refer the user to any non-free documentation. The need for
free documentation 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 ask 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 issue.
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