Helping with FSF's Free Software Directory

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The FSF's Free Software Directory needs volunteers to improve it. Here are some ways you can get involved, progressing from easy to difficult.

• Reporting Errors
• Reporting New Releases
• Correcting Errors
• Adding Entries
• Improving the Interface
• Software Requirements

Reporting Errors

If you note an error in the database, we would appreciate it if you would bring it to our attention. You can do so by sending mail to <bug-directory@gnu.org>. Please include the name of the project and the field that is incorrect. It would be appreciated if you could also include the correct information. However, this isn't required.

Reporting New Releases

One piece of information which is especially hard to keep up to date is the version information. If you are an author or avid user of a particular project and would like to ensure that the pages are kept up to date, this is relatively easy to do. Subscribe to the announcement list and report each new release as noted above.

Correcting Errors

If you'd like to do more than reporting the error, you can also make the corrections yourself. The directory data itself is stored on our savannah system, and you may make an anonymous CVS checkout. You can send us patches against that CVS tree to <bug-directory@gnu.org>.

If you decide to submit a patch, please generate it with the -u option or, if this isn't supported by your diff, with -C 3. This makes it much nicer for us to read.

If you plan to make a lot of changes, you can check out the information from CVS by following these directions, and getting the directory module.

Adding Entries

If you would like to add an entry for a program not already in the database, you can do so by filling out and submitting an online form.

Improving the Interface

If you'd like to work on the interface, you will find the code in the Quagga savannah project, and you can check out the software by using CVS to get the quagga module. If you want to test your changes, you should get the directory module to have test data. The interesting and current stuff is all in the src subdirectory.

Free Software Requirements

1. The software is at least of beta quality; users consider it usable and useful. (We also list GNU packages that are in early development, but they are marked as not ready for general use.)
2. It is licensed under a free software license as defined in the free software definition and listed as a free software license.
3. It does not rely on non-free software, either for significant functionality or normal performance. (Software which depends on a non-free platform is not usable in the Free World.)
4. It runs on the GNU system or the GNU/Linux system.

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