Currently, on the official savannah site, we are only permitting
programs
that are officially GNU software. (We are beginning to add
functionality
this so that any GPL-compatible software can be hosted, but that is
not
completely done yet.)
We can certainly evaluate your software to see if it can officially
become
GNU software.
To make your program into official GNU software
(http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html#GNUsoftware), you will
first need to agree to follow GNU policies. This is somewhat
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For a more detailed description, please read the GNU Maintainers Guide
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If you are agreeable to these policies, the next step is for the
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address@hidden <address@hidden> wrote:
> Submitter: <address@hidden>
> Project Full Name: udp equalizer (aggregate and balance)
> Project System Name: udpeq
> License: gpl
> Approval URL:
https://savannah.gnu.org/admin/groupedit.php?group_id=2458
> Description: My project (udpeq) is a C program that performs load
> balancing over multiple UDP channels. Its purpose is to provide a
fast,
> robust meta-link over several slow or unreliable channels. For
example,
> I use this program to maintain an always-connected link on top of
> several dial-up modem links and a satellite link. Udpeq is useful
in
> combination with a higher-level tunneling program such as GRE or
CIPE to
> provide an IP route or a VPN.
>
> Udpeq already exists (has been developed for over a year now)
> and you can download the latest distribution at :
>
> http://www.truxton.com/~trux/software/udpeq-0.47.tar.gz
--
Bradley M. Kuhn, Executive Director
Free Software Foundation | Phone: +1-617-542-5942
59 Temple Place, Suite 330 | Fax: +1-617-542-2652
Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA | Web: http://www.gnu.org
Here's the explanation of what it means for a program to be a GNU
package:
======================================================================
Calling a program GNU software means that its developers and the GNU
project agree that "This program is part of the GNU project, released
under the aegis of GNU"--and say so in the program.
This means that we normally put the program on ftp.gnu.org (although
we could instead refer to the developer's choice of ftp site).
This means that we put the official pages describing the program on
the www.gnu.org, specifically in /software/PROGRAMNAME. Whenever you
give out the URL for the package home page, you would give this
address. (It is ok to put more informal pages about secondary issues,
such as discussion meant for people who want to help develop the
package, and pages that access data bases, on some other site.)
It means that the developers agree to pay some attention to making the
program work well with the rest of the GNU system--and conversely that
the GNU project will encourage other GNU maintainers to pay some
attention to making their programs fit in well with it.
Just what it means to make programs work well together is mainly a
practical matter that depends on what the program does. But there are
a few general principles. Certain parts of the GNU coding standards
directly affect the consistency of the whole system. These include
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programs follow these standards, where they are applicable.
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documentation in Texinfo format. That is the GNU standard
documentation
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formats.
You can use DocBook format or another suitable format for the
documentation
sources, as long as you verify that converting it automatically into
Texinfo gives correct and reasonable results.
If a GNU program wants to be extensible, it should use GUILE
(http://www.gnu.org/software/guile/guile.html) as the programming
language for extensibility--that is the GNU standard extensibility
package. If the program doesn't use GUILE today, at least there
should be a firm plan to support it in the future.
A GNU program should use the latest version of a license that the GNU
Project recommends--not just any free software license.
A GNU program should not recommend use of any non-free program, and it
should not refer the user to any non-free documentation for free
software. The need for free documentation to go with free software is
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about the need for free documentation, we must not contradict our
position by recommending use of documentation that isn't free.
Occasionally there are issues of terminology which are important for
the success of the GNU project as a whole. So we expect maintainers
of GNU programs to follow them. For example, the documentation files
and comments in the program should speak of Linux-based GNU systems or
GNU/Linux systems, rather than calling the whole system "Linux", and
should use the term "free software" rather than "open source".
Deciding that a program is GNU software does not necessarily require
transferring copyright to the FSF; that is a separate question. If
you transfer the copyright to the FSF, the FSF will enforce the GPL
for the program if someone violates it; if you keep the copyright,
enforcement will be up to you.