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 September 15, 1999
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::
34 * Encryption Projects::
37 * Games and Recreations::
40 @node Intro, Highest Priority, Top, Top
41 @chapter About the GNU Task List
43 If you did not obtain this file directly from the GNU project and
44 recently, please check for a newer version. You can ftp the task list
45 from any GNU FTP host in directory @file{/pub/gnu/tasks/}. The task
46 list is available there in several different formats: @file{tasks.text},
47 @file{tasks.texi}, @file{tasks.info}, and @file{tasks.dvi}. The GNU
48 HURD task list is also there in file @file{tasks.hurd}.
49 @c to fix an overfill, join the paragraphs -len
50 The task list is also available on the GNU World Wide Web server:
51 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/prep/tasks_toc.html}.
53 If you start working steadily on a project, please let @email{gvc@@gnu.org}
54 know. We might have information that could help you; we'd also like to
55 send you the GNU coding standards.
57 Because of the natural tendency for most volunteers to write programming
58 tools or programming languages, we have a comparative shortage of
59 applications useful for non-programmer users. Therefore, we ask you to
60 consider writing such a program.
62 Typically, a new program that does a completely new job advances
63 the GNU project, and the free software community, more than an
64 improvement to an existing program.
66 Typically, new features or new programs advance the free software
67 community more, in the long run, than porting existing programs. One
68 reason is that portable new features and programs benefit people on many
69 platforms, not just one. At the same time, there tend to be many
70 volunteers for porting---so your help will be more valuable in other
71 areas, where volunteers are more scarce.
73 Typically, it is more useful to extend a program in functionality than
74 to improve performance. Users who use the new functionality will
75 appreciate it very much, if they use it; but even when they benefit from
76 a performance improvement, they may not consider it very important.
78 @node Highest Priority, Documentation, Intro, Top
79 @chapter Highest Priority
81 This task list mentions a large number of tasks that would be more or
82 less useful. With luck, at least one of them will inspire you to start
83 writing. It's better for you to work on any task that inspires you than
84 not write free software at all.
86 But if you would like to work on what we need most, here is a list of
87 high priority projects.
91 If you are good at writing documentation, please do that.
94 If you are very good at C programming and interested in kernels, you can
95 help develop the GNU HURD, the kernel for the GNU system. Please have a
96 look at @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/hurd.html}, and
97 then get a copy of the latest HURD task list from:
102 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/prep/tasks.hurd.html}, via the World Wide
106 @uref{ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/tasks/tasks.hurd}, via anonymous FTP.
109 @email{gnu@@gnu.org} via e-mail.
114 If you are a Scheme fan, you can help develop Guile. Please have a look
115 at the URL @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/guile.html}
116 and then contact the Guile developers at @email{guile@@gnu.org}.
119 A package to convert programs written using MS Access into Scheme,
120 making use of a free data base system and the GTK toolkit.
124 Help develop XmHTML. See @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~ripley/XmHTML/}.
128 Help develop software to emulate Windows NT on top of GNU systems.
129 For example, you could help work on Willows Twin.
130 See @uref{http://www.willows.com/}.
132 @ignore The Kermit developers say they will provide a free program
135 Implement the Kermit data transfer protocol. (See below.)
138 @ignore This is being done (Harmony)
140 Develop a free compatible replacement for Qt, a GUI toolkit library. Qt
141 is not free software, because users are prohibited from distributing
142 modified versions. Thus, Qt cannot be included in a free operating
143 system (adding it would make the system as a whole non-free).
145 But some developers are writing free applications that use Qt and cannot
146 run without it. These programs, although free software, are useless for
147 free operating systems because there is no way to make them run.
149 This is leading to a serious problem, and a free replacement for Qt is
150 the only solution. Hence the high degree of urgency of this project.
154 Develop a substitute, which runs on GNU systems, for some very popular
155 or very important application that many non-programmers use on Windows,
156 and which has no comparable free equivalent now.
159 @node Documentation, Unix-Related Projects, Highest Priority, Top
160 @chapter Documentation
162 We very urgently need documentation for many existing parts of the
165 Note that there are proprietary manuals for many of these topics, but
166 proprietary manuals do not count, for the same reason proprietary
167 software does not count: we are not free to copy and modify them.
168 We do not recommend any non-free materials as documentation.
172 A manual for libstdc++.
175 A unified manual for La@TeX{}. (Existing documentation is non-free.)
178 A tutorial introduction to Midnight Commander.
181 A manual for GNU SQL.
184 A thorough manual for RCS.
187 A reference manual for Mach.
190 A reference manual for the GNU Hurd features in GNU libc.
193 A manual for writing Hurd servers.
196 A manual for GNU sed.
199 Reference manuals for C++, Objective C, Pascal, Fortran 77, and Java.
202 A tutorial manual for the C++ STL (standard template library).
205 A tutorial manual for Gforth.
208 GNU Objective-C Runtime Library Manual; this would be a reference manual
209 for the runtime library functions, structures, and classes. Some work
210 has been done on this job.
213 Manuals for GNUstep: developer tutorial, developer programming manual,
214 developer reference manual, and user manual.
217 A manual for Ghostscript.
223 A coherent free reference manual for Perl. Most of the Perl on-line
224 reference documentation can be used as a starting point, but work is
225 needed to weld them together into a coherent manual.
228 A good free Perl language tutorial introduction. The existing Perl
229 introductions are published with restrictions on copying and
230 modification, so that they cannot be part of a GNU system.
233 A manual for PIC (the graphics formatting language).
236 A book on how GCC works and why various machine descriptions
237 are written as they are.
240 A manual for programming applications for X11.
243 Manuals for various X window managers.
246 Reference cards for those manuals that don't have them: C
247 Compiler, Make, Texinfo, Termcap, and maybe the C Library.
250 Many utilities need documentation, including @code{grep} and others.
253 @node Unix-Related Projects, Kernel Projects, Documentation, Top
254 @chapter Unix-Related Projects
259 Modify the GNU @code{dc} program to use the math routines of GNU
264 Less urgent: make a replacement for the ``writer's workbench'' program
265 @code{style}, or something to do the same kind of job. Compatibility
266 with Unix is not especially important for this program.
269 @node Kernel Projects, Extensions, Unix-Related Projects, Top
270 @chapter Kernel-Related Projects
274 An over-the-ethernet debugger stub that will allow the kernel to be
275 debugged from GDB running on another machine.
277 This stub needs its own self-contained implementation of all protocols
278 to be used, since the GNU system will use user processes to implement
279 all but the lowest levels, and the stub won't be able to use those
280 processes. If a simple self-contained implementation of IP and TCP is
281 impractical, it might be necessary to design a new, simple protocol
282 based directly on ethernet. It's not crucial to support high speed or
283 communicating across gateways.
285 It might be possible to use the Mach ethernet driver code, but it would
289 A shared memory X11 server to run under MACH is very desirable. The
290 machine specific parts should be kept well separated.
293 An implementation of CIFS, the ``Common Internet File System,'' for the
294 HURD. This protocol is an offshoot of SMB.
297 Support (in Linux?) for dumping the non-textual contents of an SVGA
301 @node Extensions, X Windows Projects, Kernel Projects, Top
302 @chapter Extensions to Existing GNU Software
306 Enhance GCC. See files @file{PROJECTS} and @file{PROBLEMS} in the GCC
310 Interface GDB to Guile, so that users can write debugging commands in
311 Scheme. This would also make it possible to write, in Scheme, a
312 graphical interface that uses GTK and is tightly integrated into GDB.
315 Extend Octave to support programs that were written
319 Rewrite Automake in Scheme, so it can run in Guile. Right now it is
320 written in Perl. There are also other programs, not terribly long,
321 which we would also like to have rewritten in Scheme.
324 Finish the partially-implemented C interpreter project.
327 Help with the development of GNUstep, a GNU implementation of the
328 OpenStep specification.
331 Add features to GNU Make to record the precise rule with which each file
332 was last recompiled; then recompile any file if its rule in the makefile
336 Add a few features to GNU @code{diff}, such as handling large input
337 files without reading entire files into core.
340 An @code{nroff} macro package to simplify @code{texi2roff}.
343 A queueing system for the mailer Smail that groups pending work by
344 destination rather than by original message. This makes it possible
345 to schedule retries coherently for each destination. Talk to
346 @email{tron@@veritas.com} about this.
348 Smail also needs a new chief maintainer.
351 Enhanced cross-reference browsing tools. (We now have something at
352 about the level of @code{cxref}.) We also could use something like
353 @code{ctrace}. (Some people are now working on this project.)
356 @node X Windows Projects, Network Projects, Extensions, Top
357 @chapter X Windows Projects
361 An emulator for Macintosh graphics calls on top of X Windows.
364 A package that emulates the API of Visual C++, but operates on top of
365 X11. It need not match the screen appearance of Visual C++. Instead,
366 it would be best to use GTK, so as to give coherence with GNOME.
369 A compatible replacement for Visual Basic, running on top of X11.
370 It need not match the screen appearance of Visual C++. Instead,
371 it would be best to use GTK, so as to give coherence with GNOME.
374 A music playing and editing system. This should work with LilyPond, a
375 GNU program for music typesetting.
378 An ear-training program for students of music.
380 @ignore @c GNUskies should do this
382 An ephemeris program to replace xephem (which is, alas, too restricted
383 to qualify as free software).
387 A program to edit dance notation (such as labanotation) and display
388 dancers moving on the screen.
391 Make sure the Vibrant toolkit works with LessTif instead of Motif.
394 A program to display and edit Hypercard stacks.
397 A two-dimensional outliner program, which lets you draw
398 graph structures of textual items, and then display them
402 A program for graphic morphing of scanned photographs.
405 Software for designing and printing business cards.
408 @node Network Projects, Encryption Projects, X Windows Projects, Top
409 @chapter Network Projects
413 @c www.openh323.org is doing this. Craig Southeren <craigs@equival.com.au>
415 A teleconferencing program which does the job of CU-SeeMe (which is,
416 alas, not free software).
420 @c Bishop Bettini <bishop@synxcti.com> is working on this.
422 A free ICQ-compatible server program. (The ICQ server itself is not
428 @node Encryption Projects, Other Projects, Network Projects, Top
429 @chapter Encryption Projects
431 These projects need to be written outside the US by people who are not
432 US citizens, to avoid problems with US export control law.
436 A free library for public-key encryption.
438 This library should use the Diffie-Helman algorithm for public key
439 encryption, not the RSA algorithm, because the Diffie-Helman patent in
440 the US expired in 1997. This library can probably be developed from
441 the code for the GNU Privacy Guard (now in development).
444 An implementation of SSLv3 (more precisely, TLSv1) which is patent-free
445 (uses the non-RSA algorithms) and has distribution terms compatible with
446 the GNU GPL. We know of a GPL-covered implemention of a version of SSL
447 that you can use as a starting point.
450 Free software for doing secure commercial transactions on the web.
451 This too needs public key encryption.
454 The projects to provide free replacements for PGP and SSH are no longer
455 listed here, because projects to do those jobs are well under way.
457 @node Other Projects, Languages, Encryption Projects, Top
458 @chapter Other Projects
460 If you think of others that should be added, please
461 send them to @email{gnu@@gnu.org}.
464 @ignore OpenBIOS is doing this
466 A simple PC BIOS. On most new PCs, the BIOS is stored in writable
467 memory (misleadingly known as ``flash ROM''). In order to have a wholly
468 free system on these PCs, we need a free BIOS.
470 This task is made simpler by the fact that this BIOS need only support
471 enough features to enable a boot-loader such as LILO or GRUB to finish
472 loading the kernel. Neither Linux nor Mach actually uses the BIOS once
473 it starts up. Also, it is not absolutely necessary to do all the many
474 diagnostics that an ordinary BIOS does (though it would be useful to do
475 some of them). However, there may be a need to configure certain data
476 in the computer in a way that is specific to each model of computer.
479 @ignore Frank Cruz promises a free version
481 A free program that can transfer files on a serial line
482 using the same protocol that Kermit uses.
486 An imitation of Page Maker or Ventura Publisher.
489 An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3}. (How dbased!)
490 @uref{http://www.startech.keller.tx.us/xbase/xbase.html} may contain
491 some useful stuff to start with.
493 @ignore @c being done by Jonas etc.
495 A general ledger program, including support for accounts payable,
496 account receivables, payroll, inventory control, order processing, etc.
500 A free replacement for Glimpse, which is not free software.
503 Software for desktop publishing. We are extending Emacs into a WYSIWYG
504 word processor, to handle primarily linear text; what this item proposes
505 is software focused on page layout.
507 @ignore It looks like TruePrint will fill this gap
509 A program to typeset C code for printing, to make it easier to read on
510 paper. For ideas on what to do, see the book,
513 Human Factors and Typography for More Readable Programs,
514 Ronald M. Baecker and Aaron Marcus,
515 Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10745-7
518 But you don't have to do exactly what they propose.
522 @c This is now being worked on -- rms, 22 June 1998
524 A program to convert Microsoft Word documents to text/enriched, TeX,
525 LaTeX, Texinfo, or some other format that free software can edit.
529 @c People are helping the developer of siff release it as free software.
532 A free replacement for siff (sometimes called sif). This would be a
533 program to find similar files in a large file system, ``similar''
534 meaning that the files contain a significant number of common substrings
535 that are of a certain size or greater. You can find some information
536 about siff (which is, unfortunately, not free software) at
537 @uref{ftp://ftp.cs.arizona.edu/reports/1993/TR93-33.ps.Z}.
541 @c This is being developed -- rms, 3 May 1998
543 A free replacement for the semi-free Qt library.
547 High-quality music compression software.
548 (Talk with @email{phr@@netcom.com} for relevant suggestions.)
549 Unfortunately we cannot implement the popular MP3 format
550 due to patents, so this job includes working out some other
551 non-patented format and compression method.
554 A program to play sound distributed in ``Real Audio'' format.
557 A program to generate ``Real Audio'' format from audio input.
560 Programs to handle audio in RTSP format.
562 @ignore @c Software patents have made this domain off limits to free software.
564 An MPEG III audio encoder/decoder (but it is necessary to check, first,
565 whether patents make this impossible).
567 @c Chris Hofstader is working on this.
569 Speech-generation programs (there is a program from Brown U that you
572 @c We have a project now.
574 Speech-recognition programs (single-speaker, disconnected speech is sufficient).
578 A braille translation and formatting system which can convert marked up
579 documents into braille. This should let the user customize the braille
580 translation rules; it would be good to divide it into a
581 device-independent part plus drivers. Contact Jason White,
582 @email{jasonw@@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU}.
586 A program to display text word by word, always showing just one word at
587 a time. This method permits much faster reading than ordinary text
588 display. If you want to work on this, contact @email{stutz@@dsl.org} to
593 More scientific mathematical subroutines.
594 (A clone of SPSS is being written already.)
600 A scientific data collection and processing tool,
601 perhaps something like Scientific Workbench and/or Khoros,
604 A program to calculate properties of molecules by solving
605 the Schroedinger equation.
608 Software to replace card catalogues in libraries.
611 A simulator for heating and air conditioning systems for buildings.
614 A package for editing genealogical records conveniently.
615 This could perhaps be done as a Gnome program, or perhaps
616 as an Emacs extension.
619 A project-scheduling package that accepts a list of project sub-tasks
620 with their interdependencies, and generates Gantt charts and Pert charts
621 and all the other standard project progress reports.
624 Grammar and style checking programs.
627 A diagnostic program to test a hard disk.
630 A fast emulator for the i386, which would make it possible
631 to emulate x86 code on other CPUs, and also to more easily
632 debug kernels such as Linux more conveniently.
634 To make this faster, it could work by translating machine instructions
635 into the machine language of the host machine.
638 Optical character recognition programs; especially if suitable for
639 scanning documents with multiple fonts and capturing font info as well
640 as character codes. Work is being done on this, but more help is needed.
643 A program to scan a line drawing and convert it to Postscript.
646 A program to recognize handwriting.
649 A pen based interface.
652 CAD software, such as a vague imitation of Autocad.
655 A program to receive data from a serial-line tap to facilitate the
656 reverse-engineering of communication protocols.
659 @node Languages, Games and Recreations, Other Projects, Top
660 @chapter Programming Languages
662 Volunteers are needed to write parsers/front ends for languages such as
663 Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, Cobol, Fortran 90, Delphi, Modula 2, Modula 3,
664 RPG, and any other languages designed for compilation, to be used with
665 the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler.
667 @c Fortran status is here so gnu@gnu.org and the volunteer coordinators
668 @c don't have to answer the question -len
669 You can get the status of the Fortran front end with this command:
672 finger -l fortran@@gnu.org
675 We would like to have translators from various languages into Scheme.
676 These languages include TCL, Python, Perl, Java, Javascript, and Rexx.
678 We would like to have an implementation of Clipper, perhaps a GCC front
679 end, and perhaps a translator into Scheme.
681 @node Games and Recreations, , Languages, Top
682 @chapter Games and Recreations
684 Video-oriented games that work with the X window system.
688 Empire (there is a free version but it needs upgrading)
691 An ``empire builder'' system that makes it easy to write various kinds of
695 Improve GnuGo, which is not yet very sophisticated.
698 Network servers and clients for board and card games for which such
699 software does not yet exist.
702 A Hierarchical Task Network package which can be used
703 to program play the computer's side in various strategic games.
706 Write imitations of some popular video games:
710 Space war, Asteroids, Pong, Columns.
712 Defending cities from missiles.
714 Plane shoots at lots of other planes, tanks, etc.
716 Wizard fights fanciful monsters.
719 @ignore Being done by jhall1@isd.net
721 Program a robot by sticking building blocks together,
722 then watch it explore a world.
725 Biomorph evolution (as in Scientific American and @cite{The Blind
728 A program to display effects of moving at relativistic speeds.
732 We do not need @code{rogue}, as we have @code{hack}.
738 update-date-leading-regexp: "@c This date is automagically updated when you save this file:\n@set lastupdate "
739 update-date-trailing-regexp: ""
740 eval: (load "/gd/gnuorg/update-date.el")
741 eval: (add-hook 'write-file-hooks 'update-date)