[Bug-gnupress] What should next project be for list? Vote!

[Lisa M. Opus Goldstein]

Dear everyone,

Sorry for my lack of activity as well - I have been busy with office
affairs and other books, and was letting the Using GCC manual ride for
a while. I think I might as well call this puppy "done" on this list,
and take it in-house.  People do seem to have become bored of it, the
traffic really has dropped off, and most of the work has been
completed.

Originally, the next item on the To-Do list was splitting the C
Library Reference manual. However, I have a single volunteer doing the
first round of work and it is far from the stage where more volunteers
are needed to work on it.

What type of project would people like to work on next?  I am listing
a number of items below.  Some can be done by the whole group, some on
a sub-list by a smaller group of people.


Possible next projects:

The Emacs LISP Reference Manual 
-------------------------------

Turns out to need major updating - something rms did not tell me back
in December when I first told him I was looking to reprint in the
summer.  rms already found a couple of volunteers to work on it.  Does
anyone on this list know Emacs LISP well enough to work on the
technical part?  When the tech updating is done, this manual will need
English editing to get it out the door.


Web Client Programming with Perl by Clinton Wong (Originally published
------------------------------------------------
by O'Reilly)


We have the rights to this book published back in 1997, but it needs a
*lot* of updating!  Are any of the Perl or Web weenies on this list
interested in this project? 

Description of content from the Amazon web site:

> If you've ever wanted to learn more about Web protocols so you could
> build custom client-side tools to automate tasks--or just so you have
> a better understanding of what's happening behind the scenes--then Web
> Client Programming with Perl is the book for you. Wong explains HTTP
> (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) requests and socket calls, then shows
> how you can use the LWP library for Perl to retrieve Web pages, parse
> HTML, check whether a server is responding, and more.

> This book teaches you the basics of how browsers communicate with
> servers and how to write your own customized Web clients to automate
> common tasks. It is intended for those who are motivated to develop
> software that offers a more flexible and dynamic response than a
> standard Web browser.



PNG: The Definitive Guide by Greg Roelofs  (Originally published by O'Reilly)
------------------------------------------
We are in the process of acquiring the rights to physically reprint
this book.  O'Reilly has reduced it to an on-line only version, and the
FSF wants to promote the PNG standard.

The book was last published in 1999 and needs updating. Please note
that from now on the author is only maintaining an HTML version; any
other versions have to be synced to it. Updates needed quoted below:

> The MNG chapter should be rewritten almost from the ground up and
> would probably double or triple in size, and the application lists in
> the other chapters would expand by at least a factor of four.  Then
> there are all the links to fix, whatever raster-to-vector image
> conversions would need to be done for print (e.g., the chunk diagrams
> in chapters 8 and 12, which O'Reilly created), and the usual
> HTML-to-LaTeX (DocBook?) conversions.


TreeCC/Bison/Flex Manual
--------------------------

Creating a new manual based upon three existing docs.  OR, just
creating something new from scratch if it is cleaner and easier.
Ideally it would be designed to complement intro C Programming classes
in college, and such reference works as the Dragon Book.


GNU Bash Manual
-------------------------------

Updating this manual for publication.  Last edition dated November
2001.  Do people think anyone would pay for it?


Combined GNU Utilities manual
----------------------------

Which utilities to include in a manual limited to 400-500 pages?
Maybe several separate volumes?  How to integrate the different docs?
Possibilities for endless conversation.


GNU Software for Windows
------------------------

Anyone on this list willing to work on this book?  I am having *big*
trouble finding knowledgeable Gnu volunteers who can stomach creating
Windows ports without losing their lunches in the process.  But it is
a big seller for us, and really helps bring in income.


Other?
-------


Suggestions, anyone? 




Best Regards,


Lisa M. Goldstein           address@hidden
Managing Editor, GNU Press  www.gnupress.org
Business Manager,           Tel 617-542-5942
Free Software Foundation    Fax 617-542-2652





James Morrison <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
>    From: "Paul A. Crable" <address@hidden>
>    X-URL: http://www.pocomail.com/
>    Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2003 20:44:38 -0700
>    Sender: address@hidden
>    X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-0.1 required=5.0 tests=SUBJ_ENDS_IN_Q_MARK 
> version=2.20
>    X-Spam-Level: 
> 
>    Other than my own sporadic contributions, I have not seen any message 
>    traffic on this list for quite a while (weeks?). Is the editing 
>    project for GCC still active? If so, where are all the other 
>    contributions? Should I be sending my changes somewhere else? 
> 
>    I don't like to whine but I guess I need some reassurance that my 
>    work is being used.
> 
>    Paul A. Crable.  Portland, Oregon, USA
> 
> 
>  Don't worry, your work is being used.  I know I've been less active than
> I should be because a new school term started a couple weeks ago and that
> always seems to throw things into a mess.
> 
> James A. Morrison
> 
> p.s. This is the correct list to send things to.
> 
> 
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