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view etc/tasks.texi @ 12243:ef2749cf206f
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author | Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org> |
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date | Thu, 15 Jun 1995 20:07:56 +0000 |
parents | 725b1d733c48 |
children | cec87ade0fd2 |
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\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- @c %**start of header @setfilename tasks.info @settitle GNU Task List @c UPDATE THIS DATE WHENEVER YOU MAKE CHANGES! @set lastupdate 6 April 1995 @c %**end of header @setchapternewpage off @titlepage @title GNU Task List @author Free Software Foundation @author last updated @value{lastupdate} @end titlepage @ifinfo @node Top, Documentation, (dir), (dir) @top GNU Task List This file is updated automatically from @file{tasks.texi}, which was last updated on @value{lastupdate}. @end ifinfo Check with @code{gnu@@prep.ai.mit.edu}, for a possibly more current copy. This task list is not exclusive; any other useful program might be a good project---but it might instead be something we already have, so check with @code{gnu@@prep} before you start writing it. @menu * Documentation:: * Unix-Related Projects:: * Kernel Projects:: * Extensions:: * X Windows Projects:: * Other Projects:: * Compilers:: * Games and Recreations:: @end menu If you start working steadily on a project, please let @code{gnu@@prep} know. We might have information that could help you; we'd also like to send you the GNU coding standards. Because of the natural tendency for most volunteers to write programming tools or programming languages, we have a comparative shortage of applications useful for non-programmer users. Therefore, we ask you to consider writing such a program. In general, a new program that does a completely new job advances the GNU project more than an improvement to an existing program. @node Documentation @chapter Documentation We very urgently need documentation for some parts of the system that already exist or will exist very soon: @itemize @bullet @item Completion of the documentation for CC-mode, a new C/C++ mode for Emacs Lisp. @item A C reference manual. (RMS has written half of one which you could start with). @item A manual for Ghostscript. @c @c @item @c A manual for CSH. @c Ick, do we want to encourage using THAT? -djm @item A manual for PIC (the graphics formatting language). @item A manual for Perl. (The books that exist are not free, and thus not available to be part of the GNU system.) @item A manual for Oleo. @item A book on how GCC works and why various machine descriptions are written as they are. @item A manual for programming X-window applications. @item Manuals for various X window managers. @item Reference cards for those manuals that don't have them: Gawk, C Compiler, Make, Texinfo, Termcap and maybe the C Library. @item Many utilities need documentation, including @code{grep}, @code{cpio}, and other small utilities. @end itemize @node Unix-Related Projects @chapter Unix-Related Projects @itemize @bullet @item We could use an emulation of Unix @code{spell}, which would run by invoking @code{ispell}. @item Less urgent: @code{diction}, @code{explain}, @code{style}. @item An improved version of the POSIX utility @code{pax}. There is one on the Usenet, but it is said to be poorly written. Talk with @code{mib@@gnu.ai.mit.edu} about this project. @ignore @item Modify the GNU @code{dc} program to use the math routines of GNU @code{bc}. @end ignore @item A @code{grap} preprocessor program for @code{troff}. @item Various other libraries. @item An emulation of SCCS that works using RCS. @end itemize @node Kernel Projects @chapter Kernel-Related Projects @itemize @bullet @item An over-the-ethernet debugger stub that will allow the kernel to be debugged from GDB running on another machine. This stub needs its own self-contained implementation of all protocols to be used, since the GNU system will use user processes to implement all but the lowest levels, and the stub won't be able to use those processes. If a simple self-contained implementation of IP and TCP is impractical, it might be necessary to design a new, simple protocol based directly on ethernet. It's not crucial to support high speed or communicating across gateways. It might be possible to use the Mach ethernet driver code, but it would need some changes. @item A shared memory X11 server to run under MACH is very desirable. The machine specific parts should be kept well separated. @end itemize @node Extensions @chapter Extensions to Existing GNU Software @itemize @bullet @item Enhance GCC. See files @file{PROJECTS} and @file{PROBLEMS} in the GCC distribution. @item GNU @code{sed} probably needs to be rewritten completely just to make it cleaner. @item Work on the partially-implemented C interpreter project. @item Help with the development of GNUStep, a GNU implementation of the OpenStep specification. @item Add features to GNU Make to record the precise rule with which each file was last recompiled; then recompile any file if its rule in the makefile has changed. @item Add a few features to GNU @code{diff}, such as handling large input files without reading entire files into core. @item An @code{nroff} macro package to simplify @code{texi2roff}. @item A queueing system for the mailer Smail that groups pending work by destination rather than by original message. This makes it possible to schedule retries coherently for each destination. Talk to @code{tron@@veritas.com} about this. Smail also needs a new chief maintainer. @item Enhanced cross-reference browsing tools. (We now have something at about the level of @code{cxref}.) We also could use something like @code{ctrace}. (Some people are now working on this project.) @end itemize @node X Windows Projects @chapter X Windows Projects @itemize @bullet @item An emulator for Macintosh graphics calls on top of X Windows. @item A music playing and editing system. @item A "disk jockey" program to keep track of a collection of recorded music samples (songs, etc), and queue up a sequence of them for playing. This program could use rplay to do the actual playing. @item A program to edit dance notation (such as labanotation) and display dancers moving on the screen. @item Port the Vibrant toolkit to work on X without using Motif. @item A widget for displaying circle-shaped menus ("pie menus") with X windows. @item A program to display and edit Hypercard stacks. @item An interface-builder program to make it easy to design graphical interfaces for applications. This could work with the dynamic linker DLD and C++, loading in the same class definitions that will be used by the application program. @item A "desktop" program with drag-and-drop icons and such. @item A paint program, supporting both bitmap-oriented operations and component-oriented operations. @code{xpaint} exists, but isn't very usable. @item A program for manipulating photographs---something vaguely like Photo Shop (though not exactly like it). @end itemize @node Other Projects @chapter Other Projects If you think of others that should be added, please send them to @code{gnu@@prep.ai.mit.edu}. @itemize @bullet @item [This seems to be being done:] A program to convert Postscript to plain ASCII text. Ghostscript will soon have a mode to output all the text strings in a document, each with its coordinates. You could write a program to start with this output and ``layout the page'' in ASCII. The program will be both easier and more useful if you don't worry pedantically about how the output text should be formatted. Instead, try to make it look reasonable as plain ASCII. @item A program to convert compiled programs represented in OSF ANDF (``Architecture Neutral Distribution Format'') into ANSI C. @item An imitation of Page Maker or Ventura Publisher. @item An imitation of @code{dbase2} or @code{dbase3} (How dbased!) @item A program to reformat Fortran programs in a way that is pretty. @item A bulletin board system. There are a few free ones, but they don't have all the features that people want in such systems. It would make sense to start with an existing one and add the other features. @item A general ledger program. @item A program to typeset C code for printing. For ideas on what to do, see the forthcoming book, @display Human Factors and Typography for More Readable Programs, Ronald M. Baecker and Aaron Marcus, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-10745-7 @end display (I don't quite agree with a few of the details they propose.) @item Speech-generation programs (there is a program from Brown U that you could improve). @item Speech-recognition programs (single-speaker, disconnected speech). @item Scientific mathematical subroutines, including clones of SPSS. @item Statistical tools. @item Software to replace card catalogues in libraries. @item Grammar and style checking programs. @item An implementation of the S language (an interpreted languages used for statistics). @item A translator from Scheme to C. @item Optical character recognition programs; especially if suitable for scanning documents with multiple fonts and capturing font info as well as character codes. This may not be very difficult if you let it @emph{train} on part of the individual document to be scanned, so as to learn what fonts are in use in that document. We would particularly like to scan the Century Dictionary, an unabridged dictionary now in the public domain. You don't need scanning hardware to work on OCR. We can send you bitmaps you can use as test data. We may soon have an OCR program, but it will need lots of additional work. @item A program to scan a line drawing and convert it to Postscript. @item A program to recognize handwriting. @item A pen based interface. @item Software suitable for creating virtual reality user interfaces. @item CAD software, such as a vague imitation of Autocad. @item Software for displaying molecules. @item Software for comparing DNA sequences, and finding matches and alignments. @end itemize @node Compilers @chapter Compilers for Other Batch Languages Volunteers are needed to write parsers/front ends for languages such as Algol 60, Algol 68, PL/I, or whatever, to be used with the code generation phases of the GNU C compiler. (C++ and Objective C are done, Fortran is now in beta test, and Ada and Pascal are being worked on. @c Fortran status is here so gnu@prep and the volunteer coordinators @c don't have to answer the question -len You can get the status of the Fortran front end with this command: @example finger -l fortran@@gnu.ai.mit.edu @end example @node Games and Recreations @chapter Games and Recreations @itemize @bullet @item Video-oriented games should work with the X window system. @item Empire (there is a free version but it needs upgrading) @item An ``empire builder'' system that makes it easy to write various kinds of simulation games. @item Imitations of popular video games: @itemize - @item Space war, Asteroids, Pong, Columns. @item Defending cities from missiles. @item Plane shoots at lots of other planes, tanks, etc. @item Wizard fights fanciful monster. @item A golf game. @item Program a robot by sticking building blocks together, then watch it explore a world. @item Biomorph evolution (as in Scientific American). @item A program to display effects of moving at relativistic speeds. @end itemize @item Intriguing screen-saver programs to make interesting pictures. Other such programs that are simply entertaining to watch. For example, an aquarium. @end itemize We do not need @code{rogue}, as we have @code{hack}. @contents @bye