1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @setfilename tasks.info
4 @settitle GNU Task List
5 @c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:
6 @set lastupdate August 1, 1998
13 @author Free Software Foundation
14 @author last updated @value{lastupdate}
18 @node Top, Intro, (dir), (dir)
21 This file is updated automatically from @file{tasks.texi}, which was
22 last updated on @value{lastupdate}.
29 * Unix-Related Projects::
32 * X Windows Projects::
33 * Encryption Projects::
36 * Games and Recreations::
40 @chapter About the GNU Task List
42 If you did not obtain this file directly from the GNU project and
43 recently, please check for a newer version. You can ftp the task list
44 from any GNU FTP host in directory @file{/pub/gnu/tasks/}. The task
45 list is available there in several different formats: @file{tasks.text},
46 @file{tasks.texi}, @file{tasks.info}, and @file{tasks.dvi}. The GNU
47 HURD task list is also there in file @file{tasks.hurd}.
48 @c to fix an overfill, join the paragraphs -len
49 The task list is also available on the GNU World Wide Web server:
50 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/prep/tasks_toc.html}.
52 If you start working steadily on a project, please let @email{gvc@@gnu.org}
53 know. We might have information that could help you; we'd also like to
54 send you the GNU coding standards.
56 Because of the natural tendency for most volunteers to write programming
57 tools or programming languages, we have a comparative shortage of
58 applications useful for non-programmer users. Therefore, we ask you to
59 consider writing such a program.
61 Typically, a new program that does a completely new job advances
62 the GNU project, and the free software community, more than an
63 improvement to an existing program.
65 Typically, new features or new programs advance the free software
66 community more, in the long run, than porting existing programs. One
67 reason is that portable new features and programs benefit people on many
68 platforms, not just one. At the same time, there tend to be many
69 volunteers for porting---so your help will be more valuable in other
70 areas, where volunteers are more scarce.
72 Typically, it is more useful to extend a program in functionality than
73 to improve performance. Users who use the new functionality will
74 appreciate it very much, if they use it; but even when they benefit from
75 a performance improvement, they may not consider it very important.
77 @node Highest Priority
78 @chapter Highest Priority
80 This task list mentions a large number of tasks that would be more or
81 less useful. With luck, at least one of them will inspire you to start
82 writing. It's better for you to work on any task that inspires you than
83 not write free software at all.
85 But if you would like to work on what we need most, here is a list of
86 high priority projects.
90 If you are good at writing documentation, please do that.
93 If you are very good at C programming and interested in kernels, you can
94 help develop the GNU HURD, the kernel for the GNU system. Please have a
95 look at @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html}, and
96 then get a copy of the latest HURD task list from:
101 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/prep/tasks.hurd.html}, via the World Wide
105 @uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/tasks/tasks.hurd}, via anonymous FTP.
108 @email{gnu@@gnu.org} via e-mail.
113 If you are a Scheme fan, you can help develop Guile. Please have a look
114 at the URL @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/guile.html}
115 and then contact the Guile developers at @email{guile@@gnu.org}.
121 Help develop software to emulate Windows NT on top of GNU systems.
122 For example, you could help work on Willows Twin.
125 Implement the Kermit data transfer protocol. (See below.)
127 @ignore This is being done (Harmony)
129 Develop a free compatible replacement for Qt, a GUI toolkit library. Qt
130 is not free software, because users are prohibited from distributing
131 modified versions. Thus, Qt cannot be included in a free operating
132 system (adding it would make the system as a whole non-free).
134 But some developers are writing free applications that use Qt and cannot
135 run without it. These programs, although free software, are useless for
136 free operating systems because there is no way to make them run.
138 This is leading to a serious problem, and a free replacement for Qt is
139 the only solution. Hence the high degree of urgency of this project.
143 Develop a free replacement for a semi-free program such as Xv or POV.
144 These semi-free programs are less restricted than typical proprietary
145 programs, but too restricted to be part of any free operating system.
148 Develop a substitute, which runs on GNU systems, for some very popular
149 or very important application that many non-programmers use on Windows,
150 and which has no comparable free equivalent now.
154 @chapter Documentation
156 We very urgently need documentation for many existing parts of the
159 Note that there are proprietary manuals for many of these topics, but
160 proprietary manuals do not count, because we are not free to copy and
161 modify them along with the software they document. For this reason,
162 we do not recommend any non-free manuals.
166 A C reference manual. (RMS made a try at one, which you could start
170 Reference manuals for C++, Pascal, Fortran 77, and Java.
173 A manual for Ghostscript.
179 A good free reference manual for Perl. The free Perl on-line reference
180 documentation is good, for what it is--a list of functions and a
181 description of each--but that is not the same as a reference manual.
182 (Compare, for example, the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual with the
183 collection of documentation strings of Emacs Lisp functions.)
186 A good free Perl language tutorial introduction. The existing Perl
187 introductions are published with restrictions on copying and
188 modification, so that they cannot be part of a GNU system.
191 A manual for PIC (the graphics formatting language).
194 A book on how GCC works and why various machine descriptions
195 are written as they are.
198 A manual for programming X-window applications.
201 Manuals for various X window managers.
204 Reference cards for those manuals that don't have them: C
205 Compiler, Make, Texinfo, Termcap, and maybe the C Library.
208 Many utilities need documentation, including @code{grep} and others.
211 @node Unix-Related Projects
212 @chapter Unix-Related Projects
216 An improved version of the POSIX utility @code{pax}. There is one on
217 Usenet, but it is said to be poorly written. Talk with
218 @email{thomas@@gnu.org}, @email{pinard@@iro.umontreal.ca} and
219 @email{juo@@klinzhai.rutgers.edu} for advice about this project.
223 Modify the GNU @code{dc} program to use the math routines of GNU
228 A @code{grap} preprocessor program for @code{troff}.
231 Less urgent: make a replacement for the ``writer's workbench'' program
232 @code{style}, or something to do the same kind of job. Compatibility
233 with Unix is not especially important for this programs.
236 @node Kernel Projects
237 @chapter Kernel-Related Projects
241 An over-the-ethernet debugger stub that will allow the kernel to be
242 debugged from GDB running on another machine.
244 This stub needs its own self-contained implementation of all protocols
245 to be used, since the GNU system will use user processes to implement
246 all but the lowest levels, and the stub won't be able to use those
247 processes. If a simple self-contained implementation of IP and TCP is
248 impractical, it might be necessary to design a new, simple protocol
249 based directly on ethernet. It's not crucial to support high speed or
250 communicating across gateways.
252 It might be possible to use the Mach ethernet driver code, but it would
256 A shared memory X11 server to run under MACH is very desirable. The
257 machine specific parts should be kept well separated.
260 An implementation of CIFS, the ``Common Internet File System,'' for the
261 HURD. This protocol is an offshoot of SMB.
265 @chapter Extensions to Existing GNU Software
269 Enhance GCC. See files @file{PROJECTS} and @file{PROBLEMS} in the GCC
273 Interface GDB to Guile, so that users can write debugging commands in
274 Scheme. This would also make it possible to write, in Scheme, a
275 graphical interface that uses GTK and is tightly integrated into GDB.
278 Extend Octave to support programs that were written
282 Rewrite GNU @code{sed} completely, to make it cleaner.
285 Rewrite Automake and Deja-GNU in Scheme, so they can run in Guile.
286 Right now they are written in Perl and TCL, respectively. There are
287 also other programs, not terribly long, which we would also like
288 to have rewritten in Scheme.
290 Deja-GNU uses TCL via Expect. It may be easy to adapt Expect
291 to work with Scheme instead of TCL.
294 Finish the partially-implemented C interpreter project.
297 Help with the development of GNUstep, a GNU implementation of the
298 OpenStep specification.
301 Add features to GNU Make to record the precise rule with which each file
302 was last recompiled; then recompile any file if its rule in the makefile
306 Add a few features to GNU @code{diff}, such as handling large input
307 files without reading entire files into core.
310 An @code{nroff} macro package to simplify @code{texi2roff}.
313 An implementation of XML (see @uref{http://www.w3.org/XML/}).
316 A queueing system for the mailer Smail that groups pending work by
317 destination rather than by original message. This makes it possible
318 to schedule retries coherently for each destination. Talk to
319 @email{tron@@veritas.com} about this.
321 Smail also needs a new chief maintainer.
324 Enhanced cross-reference browsing tools. (We now have something at
325 about the level of @code{cxref}.) We also could use something like
326 @code{ctrace}. (Some people are now working on this project.)
329 @node X Windows Projects
330 @chapter X Windows Projects
334 An emulator for Macintosh graphics calls on top of X Windows.
337 A music playing and editing system. This should work with LilyPond, a
338 GNU program for music typesetting.
341 An ephemeris program to replace xephem (which is, alas, too restricted
342 to qualify as free software).
345 A program to edit dance notation (such as labanotation) and display
346 dancers moving on the screen.
349 Make sure the Vibrant toolkit works with LessTif instead of Motif.
352 A program to display and edit Hypercard stacks.
355 An interactive 3D modeling utility with rendering/raytracing capabilities.
358 A program for graphic morphing of scanned photographs.
361 @node Encryption Projects
362 @chapter Encryption Projects
364 These projects need to be written outside the US by people who are not
365 US citizens, to avoid problems with US export control law.
369 A free library for public-key encryption.
371 This library should use the Diffie-Helman algorithm for public key
372 encryption, not the RSA algorithm, because the Diffie-Helman patent in
373 the US expired in 1997. This library can probably be developed from
374 the code for the GNU Privacy Guard (now in development).
377 A free secure telnet program more or less like ssh/sshd. Since this
378 requires a public key encryption algorithm, it should be based
379 on the library above.
381 This program should follow the draft standard for ssh. As always, it
382 cannot implement the RSA algorithm, but must instead support the
383 alternatives that will be patent-free in late 1997. It cannot support
384 IDEA, but can use triple-DES and/or Blowfish or other non-patented
388 Free software for doing secure commercial transactions on the web.
389 This too needs public key encryption.
392 A free replacement for PGP is no longer listed here because the GNU
393 Privacy Guard will do that job.
396 @chapter Other Projects
398 If you think of others that should be added, please
399 send them to @email{gnu@@gnu.org}.
403 A simple PC BIOS. On most new PCs, the BIOS is stored in writable
404 memory (misleadingly known as ``flash ROM''). In order to have a wholly
405 free system on these PCs, we need a free BIOS.
407 This task is made simpler by the fact that this BIOS need only support
408 enough features to enable a boot-loader such as LILO or GRUB to finish
409 loading the kernel. Neither Linux nor Mach actually uses the BIOS once
410 it starts up. Also, it is not absolutely necessary to do all the many
411 diagnostics that an ordinary BIOS does (though it would be useful to do
412 some of them). However, there may be a need to configure certain data
413 in the computer in a way that is specific to each model of computer.
416 A free program that can transfer files on a serial line
417 using the same protocol that Kermit uses.
420 An imitation of Page Maker or Ventura Publisher.
423 An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3} (How dbased!)
426 A general ledger program, including support for accounts payable,
427 account receivables, payroll, inventory control, order processing, etc.
430 A teleconferencing program which does the job of CU-SeeMe (which is,
431 alas, not free software).
434 A free replacement for Glimpse, which is not free software.
437 A program to typeset C code for printing, to make it easier to read on
438 paper. For ideas on what to do, see the book,
441 Human Factors and Typography for More Readable Programs,
442 Ronald M. Baecker and Aaron Marcus,
443 Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10745-7
446 But you don't have to do exactly what they propose.
449 @c This is now being worked on -- rms, 22 June 1998
451 A program to convert Microsoft Word documents to text/enriched, TeX,
452 LaTeX, Texinfo, or some other format that free software can edit.
456 @c People are helping the developer of siff release it as free software.
459 A free replacement for siff (sometimes called sif). This would be a
460 program to find similar files in a large file system, ``similar''
461 meaning that the files contain a significant number of common substrings
462 that are of a certain size or greater. You can find some information
463 about siff (which is, unfortunately, not free software) at
464 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.arizona.edu/reports/1993/TR93-33.ps.Z}.
468 @c This is being developed -- rms, 3 May 1998
470 A free replacement for the semi-free Qt library.
474 High-quality music compression software.
475 (Talk with @email{phr@@netcom.com} for relevant suggestions.)
478 A program to play sound distributed in ``Real Audio'' format.
481 A program to generate ``Real Audio'' format from audio input.
484 Programs to handle audio in RTSP format.
486 @ignore @c Software patents have made this domain off limits to free software.
488 An MPEG III audio encoder/decoder (but it is necessary to check, first,
489 whether patents make this impossible).
493 Speech-generation programs (there is a program from Brown U that you
497 Speech-recognition programs (single-speaker, disconnected speech is sufficient).
501 A program to display text word by word, always showing just one word at
502 a time. This method permits much faster reading than ordinary text
503 display. If you want to work on this, contact @email{stutz@@dsl.org} to
508 More scientific mathematical subroutines.
509 (A clone of SPSS is being written already.)
515 A scientific data collection and processing tool,
516 perhaps something like Scientific Workbench and/or Khoros,
519 Software to replace card catalogues in libraries.
522 A project-scheduling package that accepts a list of project sub-tasks
523 with their interdependencies, and generates Gantt charts and Pert charts
524 and all the other standard project progress reports.
527 Grammar and style checking programs.
530 A translator from Scheme to C.
533 A fast emulator for the i386 which works by translating
534 machine instructions into the machine language of the host machine.
535 (Support for emulation of other machines would enhance the program
536 but might make it much more difficult.)
539 A map display or geographic information system.
542 Optical character recognition programs; especially if suitable for
543 scanning documents with multiple fonts and capturing font info as well
544 as character codes. Work is being done on this, but more help is needed.
547 A program to scan a line drawing and convert it to Postscript.
550 A program to recognize handwriting.
553 A pen based interface.
556 CAD software, such as a vague imitation of Autocad.
559 A program to receive data from a serial-line tap to facilitate the
560 reverse-engineering of communication protocols.
564 @chapter Compilers for Other Batch Languages
566 Volunteers are needed to write parsers/front ends for languages such as
567 Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, Cobol, Fortran 90, or whatever, to be
568 used with the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler.
570 @c Fortran status is here so gnu@gnu.org and the volunteer coordinators
571 @c don't have to answer the question -len
572 You can get the status of the Fortran front end with this command:
575 finger -l fortran@@gnu.org
578 @node Games and Recreations
579 @chapter Games and Recreations
581 Video-oriented games that work with the X window system.
585 Empire (there is a free version but it needs upgrading)
588 An ``empire builder'' system that makes it easy to write various kinds of
592 Improve GnuGo, which is not yet very sophisticated.
595 A Hierarchical Task Network package which can be used
596 to program play the computer's side in various strategic games.
599 Write imitations of some popular video games:
603 Space war, Asteroids, Pong, Columns.
605 Defending cities from missiles.
607 Plane shoots at lots of other planes, tanks, etc.
609 Wizard fights fanciful monsters.
612 @ignore Being done by jhall1@isd.net
614 Program a robot by sticking building blocks together,
615 then watch it explore a world.
618 Biomorph evolution (as in Scientific American and @cite{The Blind
621 A program to display effects of moving at relativistic speeds.
625 We do not need @code{rogue}, as we have @code{hack}.
631 update-date-leading-regexp: "@c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:\n@set lastupdate "
632 update-date-trailing-regexp: ""
633 eval: (load "/gd/gnuorg/update-date.el")
634 eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'update-date)