1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @setfilename tasks.info
4 @settitle GNU Task List
5 @c UPDATE THIS DATE WHENEVER YOU MAKE CHANGES!
6 @set lastupdate 18 July 1997
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 @url{http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/prep/tasks_toc.html}.
52 If you start working steadily on a project, please let @code{gnu@@prep}
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.
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 @url{http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/software/hurd/hurd.html}, and
96 then get a copy of the latest HURD task list from:
101 @url{http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/prep/tasks.hurd.html}, via the World Wide
105 @url{ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/tasks/tasks.hurd}, via anonymous FTP.
108 @email{gnu@@prep.ai.mit.edu} via e-mail.
113 If you are a Scheme fan, you can help develop Guile. Please have a look
114 at the URL @url{http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu:/software/guile/guile.html}
115 and then contact @email{guile@@gnu.ai.mit.edu}.
118 Help develop the GNU web browser, E-scape.
121 Help develop Windows NT emulation for GNU systems---for example, WINE.
124 Implement the Kermit data transfer protocol. (See below.)
127 Develop a free compatible replacement for Qt, a graphics toolkit
131 Develop a substitute, which runs on GNU systems, for some very popular
132 or very important application that many non-programmers use on Windows,
133 and which has no comparable free equivalent now.
137 @chapter Documentation
139 We very urgently need documentation for some parts of the system
140 that already exist or will exist very soon:
144 A C reference manual. (RMS made a try at one, which you could start
148 A manual for Ghostscript.
154 A manual for PIC (the graphics formatting language).
160 A book on how GCC works and why various machine descriptions
161 are written as they are.
164 A manual for programming X-window applications.
167 Manuals for various X window managers.
170 Reference cards for those manuals that don't have them: C
171 Compiler, Make, Texinfo, Termcap, and maybe the C Library.
174 Many utilities need documentation, including @code{grep} and others.
177 @node Unix-Related Projects
178 @chapter Unix-Related Projects
182 An improved version of the POSIX utility @code{pax}. There is one on
183 Usenet, but it is said to be poorly written. Talk with
184 @code{thomas@@gnu.ai.mit.edu} about this project.
188 Modify the GNU @code{dc} program to use the math routines of GNU
193 A @code{grap} preprocessor program for @code{troff}.
196 Various other libraries.
199 An emulation of SCCS that works using RCS.
202 Less urgent: @code{diction}, @code{explain}, and @code{style}, or
203 something to do the same kind of job. Compatibility with Unix is not
204 especially important for these programs.
207 @node Kernel Projects
208 @chapter Kernel-Related Projects
212 An over-the-ethernet debugger stub that will allow the kernel to be
213 debugged from GDB running on another machine.
215 This stub needs its own self-contained implementation of all protocols
216 to be used, since the GNU system will use user processes to implement
217 all but the lowest levels, and the stub won't be able to use those
218 processes. If a simple self-contained implementation of IP and TCP is
219 impractical, it might be necessary to design a new, simple protocol
220 based directly on ethernet. It's not crucial to support high speed or
221 communicating across gateways.
223 It might be possible to use the Mach ethernet driver code, but it would
227 A shared memory X11 server to run under MACH is very desirable. The
228 machine specific parts should be kept well separated.
231 An implementation of CIFS, the ``Common Internet File System,'' for the
232 HURD. This protocol is an offshoot of SMB.
236 @chapter Extensions to Existing GNU Software
240 Enhance GCC. See files @file{PROJECTS} and @file{PROBLEMS} in the GCC
244 Interface GDB to Guile, so that users can write debugging commands in
245 Scheme. This would also make it possible to write, in Scheme, a
246 graphical interface that uses Tk and is tightly integrated into GDB.
249 Rewrite GNU @code{sed} completely, to make it cleaner.
252 Rewrite Automake and Deja-GNU in Scheme, so they can run in Guile.
253 Right now they are written in Perl and TCL, respectively. There are
254 also other programs, not terribly long, which we would also like
255 to have rewritten in Scheme.
258 Finish the partially-implemented C interpreter project.
261 Help with the development of GNUStep, a GNU implementation of the
262 OpenStep specification.
265 Add features to GNU Make to record the precise rule with which each file
266 was last recompiled; then recompile any file if its rule in the makefile
270 Add a few features to GNU @code{diff}, such as handling large input
271 files without reading entire files into core.
274 An @code{nroff} macro package to simplify @code{texi2roff}.
277 A queueing system for the mailer Smail that groups pending work by
278 destination rather than by original message. This makes it possible
279 to schedule retries coherently for each destination. Talk to
280 @code{tron@@veritas.com} about this.
282 Smail also needs a new chief maintainer.
285 Enhanced cross-reference browsing tools. (We now have something at
286 about the level of @code{cxref}.) We also could use something like
287 @code{ctrace}. (Some people are now working on this project.)
290 @node X Windows Projects
291 @chapter X Windows Projects
295 An emulator for Macintosh graphics calls on top of X Windows.
298 A music playing and editing system. This should work with LilyPond, a
299 free program for music typesetting.
302 A program to edit dance notation (such as labanotation) and display
303 dancers moving on the screen.
306 Port the Vibrant toolkit to work on X without using Motif.
309 A program to display and edit Hypercard stacks.
312 A paint program, supporting both bitmap-oriented operations and
313 component-oriented operations. @code{xpaint} exists, but isn't very
317 A vector-based drawing program in the spirit of Adobe Illustrator
321 An interactive 3D modeling utility with rendering/raytracing capabilities.
324 A program for graphic morphing of scanned photographs.
327 @node Encryption Projects
328 @chapter Encryption Projects
330 These projects need to be written outside the US by people who are not
331 US citizens, to avoid problems with US export control law.
335 A free library for public-key encryption.
337 This library should use the Diffie-Helman algorithm for public key
338 encryption, not the RSA algorithm, because the Diffie-Helman patent in
339 the US will expire in 1997.
342 A free program for sended encrypted mail using public-key encryption.
344 This program should use the library described above for the public-key
345 encryption. It should use triple-DES, not IDEA, for block encryption,
346 because IDEA is patented in many countries and the patents will not
349 In other respects, it should be like PGP. If the new version of PGP
350 no longer uses RSA and IDEA, compatibility with it may be feasible.
352 There is a suggestion that the Blowfish algorithm might be a good choice
353 for the non-public-key block encryption. I'm not an encryption expert
354 so I don't have an opinion about that.
356 Many people believe that PGP is free software, but that is not actually
357 true. The distribution terms do not allow everyone to use and
358 redistribute it. We used to think that these restrictions had been
359 imposed by the patent holders for the RSA and IDEA algorithms, and that
360 PGP could be free software if these algorithms were replaced by
361 alternatives. But we have since learned that the owners of PGP are
362 themselves unwilling to make it free software. Writing a new program is
363 the only way to get free software for this job.
366 A free secure telnet program more or less like ssh/sshd. Since this
367 requires a public key encryption algorithm, it is closely related to the
370 This program should follow the draft standard for ssh. As always, it
371 cannot implement the RSA algorithm, but must instead support the
372 alternatives that will be patent-free in late 1997. It cannot support
373 IDEA, but can use triple-DES and/or Blowfish or other non-patented
377 Free software for doing secure commercial transactions on the web.
378 This too needs public key encryption.
382 @chapter Other Projects
384 If you think of others that should be added, please
385 send them to @code{gnu@@prep.ai.mit.edu}.
389 A free program that can transfer files on a serial line
390 using the same protocol that Kermit uses.
393 An imitation of Page Maker or Ventura Publisher.
396 An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3} (How dbased!)
399 A bulletin board system. There are a few free ones, but they don't have
400 all the features that people want in such systems. It would make sense
401 to start with an existing one and add the other features.
404 A general ledger program, including support for accounts payable,
405 account receivables, payroll, inventory control, order processing, etc.
408 A teleconferencing program which does the job of CU-SeeMe (which is,
409 alas, not free software).
412 A program to typeset C code for printing.
413 For ideas on what to do, see the book,
416 Human Factors and Typography for More Readable Programs,
417 Ronald M. Baecker and Aaron Marcus,
418 Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10745-7
421 (I don't quite agree with a few of the details they propose.)
424 A program to convert Microsoft Word documents to text/enriched, TeX,
425 LaTeX, Texinfo, or some other format that free software can edit.
428 A free replacement for the semi-free Qt library.
431 High-quality music compression software.
432 (Talk with phr@@netcom.com for relevant suggestions.)
435 A program to play sound distributed in ``Real Audio'' format.
438 A program to generate ``Real Audio'' format from audio input.
441 An MPEG III audio encoder/decoder (but it is necessary to check, first,
442 whether patents make this impossible).
445 Speech-generation programs (there is a program from Brown U that you
449 Speech-recognition programs (single-speaker, disconnected speech is sufficient).
452 More scientific mathematical subroutines.
453 (A clone of SPSS is being written already.)
459 A scientific data collection and processing tool,
460 perhaps something like Scientific Workbench and/or Khoros,
463 Software to replace card catalogues in libraries.
466 A project-scheduling package that accepts a list of project sub-tasks
467 with their interdependencies, and generates Gantt charts and Pert charts
468 and all the other standard project progress reports.
471 Grammar and style checking programs.
474 An implementation of the S language (an interpreted language used for
478 A translator from Scheme to C.
481 A fast emulator for the i386 which works by translating
482 machine instructions into the machine language of the host machine.
483 (Support for emulation of other machines would enhance the program
484 but might make it much more difficult.)
487 A map display or geographic information system.
490 Optical character recognition programs; especially if suitable for
491 scanning documents with multiple fonts and capturing font info as well
492 as character codes. Work is being done on this, but more help is needed.
495 A program to scan a line drawing and convert it to Postscript.
498 A program to recognize handwriting.
501 A pen based interface.
504 CAD software, such as a vague imitation of Autocad.
507 A program to receive data from a serial-line tap to facilitate the
508 reverse-engineering of communication protocols.
512 @chapter Compilers for Other Batch Languages
514 Volunteers are needed to write parsers/front ends for languages such as
515 Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, Cobol, Fortran 90, Eiffel, or whatever, to be
516 used with the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler.
518 @c Fortran status is here so gnu@prep and the volunteer coordinators
519 @c don't have to answer the question -len
520 You can get the status of the Fortran front end with this command:
523 finger -l fortran@@gnu.ai.mit.edu
526 @node Games and Recreations
527 @chapter Games and Recreations
529 Video-oriented games that work with the X window system.
533 A Doom-compatible display game engine, for running the many free
534 levels people have written for Doom.
537 Empire (there is a free version but it needs upgrading)
540 An ``empire builder'' system that makes it easy to write various kinds of
544 Improve GnuGo, which is not yet very sophisticated.
547 Imitations of popular video games:
551 Space war, Asteroids, Pong, Columns.
553 Defending cities from missiles.
555 Plane shoots at lots of other planes, tanks, etc.
557 Wizard fights fanciful monster.
561 Program a robot by sticking building blocks together,
562 then watch it explore a world.
564 Biomorph evolution (as in Scientific American and @cite{The Blind
567 A program to display effects of moving at relativistic speeds.
571 Intriguing screen-saver programs to make interesting pictures.
572 Other such programs that are simply entertaining to watch.
573 For example, an aquarium.
576 We do not need @code{rogue}, as we have @code{hack}.