LDP Weekly News -- December 4, 2001
Dec 05, 2001, 04:26 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by David Merrill)
LDP Weekly News
2001-12-04
by David Merrill
Debian Licensing Issues
About 2/3 of the LDP document collection will be removed from the base
Debian distribution due to licensing issues unless they are
relicensed. Most LDP documents are licensed under the LDP License, an
old license used by the LDP in years past but that has been deprecated
for some time. Now the need to relicense has become urgent.
The Debian GNU/Linux distribution maintains separate trees for Free
and Non-Free applications. The LDP has always been included in Free,
apparently because nobody at Debian ever noticed that most LDP
documents are Non-Free, according to the Debian Free Software
Guidelines. (The DFSG is the policy which became the foundation for
the Open Source Initiative's Open Source Definition.)
In the course of a conversation with Colin Watson, the Debian LDP
maintainer, I became aware of the licensing problem and let Colin know
that Debian was in violation of their own Guidelines, and they are now
in the process of splitting the LDP up into two separate collections,
one composed of Free documents, and the other Non-Free.
The Non-Free documents are not a part of the Debian base system.
Although many Debian users install both Free and Non-Free
applications, many others do not. The removal of many LDP documents
from Debian base is not good news for the LDP.
To further complicate issues, The freeze date for the next release of
Debian is due on December 8, only a few days from now. It is quite
possible we will be able to slip in some updates after that date,
since documentation updates are such a low risk to stability, but we
still have no time to spare.
I am asking all LDP authors to help us out by licensing your documents
to make sure they are freely distributable and that modified versions
are allowed.
The LDP does not officially endorse any one license, and we do not
require any one license. We absolutely require that a document be
freely redistributable, but we do not require anything beyond that.
However, we also want to continue to have as many LDP documents
available in the base Debian system as we possibly can.
So, I am making a personal appeal to all LDP authors to ask that you
relicense your documents under the GNU Free Documentation License, the
Open Publication License (without applying the non-free options), or any
other license that complies with the DFSG.
Please either commit your update to cvs if you have an LDP cvs
account, or send your updated document to submit@linuxdoc.org as usual
as soon as possible.
And thank you all for your continued support of the Linux
Documentation Project. We wouldn't exist without you.
David C. Merrill
Collection Editor & Coordinator
New Maintainers Needed
I've been writing to authors whose documents have not been updated in
the last year to inquire as to their status. Often, these documents
don't need updates, particularly if they document traditional Unix(TM)
tools that haven't changed much in years, but sometimes authors are no
longer able to keep their documents up to date.
Our list of unmaintained documents has been growing dramatically due
to this effort. This doesn't mean we have more unmaintained documents,
just that I am identifying them. If you happen to be the author of a
document listed here, your listed email is invalid and you need to
contact us and update the document with your current email address. I
consider documents with stale email addresses to be unmaintained.
Beginning with this week's LDPWN, I'll be listing all of the documents
that appear to be unmaintained. These documents are in need of someone
to take care of them and keep them up to date. If you have some
expertise in the area, please adopt one of them and help your fellow
Linux users. They appear toward the end of this page.
If you would like to become the maintainer of an LDP document, we will
give you some help in getting started. Join the LDP discussion mailing
list by going to lists.linuxdoc.org/, and post a message indicating the
document you are interested in. We'll help you get on from there.
New Documents
* CVS Best Practices
http://www.linuxdoc.org/REF/CVS-BestPractices/html/index.html
Version 0.2, Vivek Venugopalan, vivekv@users.sourceforge.net
* PCTel HSP MicroModem Configuration mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/PCTel-MicroModem-Config/
Version 1.00, Jan Stifter, j.stifter@medres.ch, Sayamindu
Dasgupta, unmadindu@Softhome.net
* SSL Certificates HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/SSL-Certificates-HOWTO/
Version 0.1, Franck Martin, franck@sopac.org
Updated Documents
* Apache WebDAV and LDAP HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Apache-WebDAV-LDAP-HOWTO/
Version 1.1, Saqib Ali, saqib@seagate.com
* FBB Packet-radio BBS mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/FBB.html
Version 1.11, Miroslav Skoric, m.skoric@eunet.yu
* How to setup international keyboard in X Window System with
Xmodmap
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Intkeyb.html
Version 1.3, Juraj Sipos, xvudpapc@savba.sk
* ISP-Connectivity-mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/ISP-Connectivity.html
Version 2.0.1, Michael Strates, mstrates@croftj.net
* LDP Author Guide
http://www.linuxdoc.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/
Version 3.9, David Merrill, david@lupercalia.net, Jorge Godoy,
godoy@metalab.unc.edu, Mark F. Komarinski, markk@linuxdoc.org
* Le Francophones-HOWTO : Linux & la langue francaise
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Francophones-HOWTO.html
Version 3.2.2, Guylhem Aznar, guylhem@metalab.unc.edu
* Lilo mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/LILO.html
Version 3.9, Miroslav Skoric, m.skoric@eunet.yu
* Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers
http://www.linuxdoc.org/FAQ/Linux-FAQ/
Version 1.19, Robert Kiesling, rkiesling@mainmatter.com
* Linux+WindowsNT mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+WinNT.html
Version 2.10, Miroslav Skoric, m.skoric@eunet.yu
* News Leafsite mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/News-Leafsite.html
Version 0.4
* PLIP Install HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/PLIP-Install-HOWTO.html
Version 1.36, Gilles Lamiral, lamiral@mail.dotcom.fr
* The Linux System Administrators Guide
http://www.linuxdoc.org/LDP/sag/
Version 0.7, Joanna Oja, viu@iki.fi, Lars Wirzenius, liw@iki.fi
* The Linux UUCP HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/UUCP-HOWTO.html
Version 2.0.1, Guylhem Aznar, guylhem@metalab.unc.edu
* The Linux keyboard and console HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html
Version 2.12, Andries Brouwer, aeb@cwi.nl
* UMSDOS HOW-TO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/UMSDOS-HOWTO.html
Version 1.2
Unmaintained Documents
These documents have been abandoned by their maintainers and many of
them have not been updated in some time. If you're willing to become
the maintainer for one of them, please join the LDP discussion list at
lists.linuxdoc.org/ and post a message indicating your interest.
* Battery Powered Linux Mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Battery-Powered.html
Version
* Brief Introduction to Alpha Systems and Processors
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Alpha-HOWTO.html
Version 0.11
* Enterprise Java for Linux HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Enterprise-Java-for-Linux-HOWTO.html
Version 0.2
* HOW-TO for inHouse IntraNet
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Netscape+Proxy.html
Version
* Installing Linux on ZIP disk using ppa ZIP Drive Mini-Howto
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Install-From-ZIP.html
Version 0.7
* LINUX PLIP MINI-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/PLIP.html
Version 2.1
* Linux Benchmarking HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Benchmarking-HOWTO.html
Version 0.12
* Linux Swap Space Mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Swap-Space.html
Version 1.42
* Linux Threads Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
http://www.linuxdoc.org/FAQ/Threads-FAQ/
Version
* NFS-Root Mini-Howto
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/NFS-Root.html
Version 8
* News Leafsite mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/News-Leafsite.html
Version 0.4
* Quota mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Quota.html
Version 0.0
* SoundBlaster AWE 32/64 HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Soundblaster-AWE.html
Version 1.2
* Spanish Linux HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Spanish-HOWTO.html
Version 0.1
* The Ftape FAQ
http://www.linuxdoc.org/FAQ/Ftape-FAQ.html
Version 0.2
* The Hebrew HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Hebrew-HOWTO.html
Version 0.4
* The LBX Mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/LBX.html
Version 1.04
* The Linux ""Linux-DOS-Win95-OS2"" mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+DOS+Win95+OS2.html
Version 1.3.1
* The Linux 3Dfx HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/3Dfx-HOWTO.html
Version 1.16
* The Linux Busmouse HOWTO
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/unmaintained/Busmouse-
HOWTO/
Version 2.0
* The Linux Intranet Server HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Intranet-Server-HOWTO.html
Version 2.11
* The dosemu HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/DOSEMU-HOWTO.html
Version
* Token-Ring mini-HOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Token-Ring.html
Version 4.1
* UMSDOS HOW-TO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/UMSDOS-HOWTO.html
Version 1.2
* Visible bell mini-Howto
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Visual-Bell.html
Version 2.22
* X11-big-cursor MINIHOWTO
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/X-Big-Cursor.html
Version 2
* mini-HOWTO install qmail with MH
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Qmail+MH.html
Version 1.4
About the LDP
The Linux Documentation Project is developing free, high quality
documentation for the GNU/Linux operating system. This includes the
creation of HOWTOs and Guides, and collaboration with other
documentation groups.
If you've always wanted to help Linux reach Total World
Domination(tm), but you're not a programmer, there's still something
you can do. Help the LDP!
The LDP keeps a page of resources for authors at
http://www.linuxdoc.org/authors/. Contributions are always welcome.
For more LDP Weekly News, go to http://www.linuxdoc.org/ldpwn/
