Hi. I'm taking over maintenance of the Linux Software Map, or LSM for short. I'll start by making a number of changes; see the new LSM template below. In addition to changes to the template, you might want to prepare yourselves for some initial confusion on my part while I make myself comfortable with the new job. :-) Hopefully everything will go well. Don't wish me luck, send me constructive criticism. I am uploading to sunsite a database in the new form and a tool for browsing it. The tool, called lsmtool, is not all that well written, is somewhat prone to crash. You have been warned. It also requires Publib, a library of C functions I've written, which you will have to get separately. (New format LSM entries for lsmtool and Publib are included at the end of this message.) The conversion to the new form did not go very cleanly (I had hoped to make it quite automatic, but there where somewhat too many interesting stuff in there for that to work without a lot of work, so I did some of the work by hand), and there are probably rather a many bugs left still. I should probably go through it all entry by entry, but let's hope it'll work well enough. I would be grateful if anyone who keeps the LSM on WWW or makes it otherwise available would contact me. There might be something that I can do to make your life simpler, and at the very least, I can list URL's in the README. ---8<---8<--- ============================================================================= Linux Software Map Entry Template Release: 09AUG94 ============================================================================= The LSM is a directory of information about each of the software packages available via FTP for the Linux operating system. It is meant to be a public information resource. All entries have been entered by volunteers all over the world via email using the template below. New versions will appear first on sunsite.unc.edu and will be announced in the newsgroup comp.os.linux.announce . Discussions pertaining to the LSM will be held in the newsgroup comp.os.linux.misc . Any questions or comments can be entered in comp.os.linux.misc or sent to me directly at lars.wirzenius@helsinki.fi. As of the end of July, 1994, the LSM is being maintained by Lars Wirzenius. The Linux Software Map was originally conceived and maintained by Jeff Kopmanis. As of the end of July, 1994, it is being maintained by Lars Wirzenius. We owe Jeff a lot for making LSM the asset it is. ============================================================================= Instructions ============================================================================= Any new packages or updates to old entries should be entered in the template below and sent to lars.wirzenius@helsinki.fi or uploaded with the package to sunsite.unc.edu. Each release of the LSM will have the current template as part of the package. Any changes to the template will be made and released there. *PLEASE* use the entry template at the end when submitting information. It has been designed so that all you have to do is fill in the blanks and send it in as is. Your entry will be read into the database directly from your email response with little if any hand manipulation. DO NOT RENAME FIELDS. DO NOT REMOVE THE BEGIN OR END MARKERS. There are no longer any limits on the fields lengths, but please try to be short. Complete as many fields as possible. I strongly encourage developers to complete all the fields, as its more descriptive. You must fill in at least the Title, Version, Entered-date, Description, and Primary-site fields. Make any corrections to an existing entry that are necessary. The initial data came from a variety of sources, and is not at all assumed to be correct. Remember to update the Entered-date field if you update an existing entry. Thank you VERY much for your time and enthusiasm. Your contribution will help to ensure that the Linux Software Map will continue to be a trusted Linux resource. ============================================================================= Lsmtool ============================================================================= I've written a small (and still fragile) tool to make it easier to browse and update the LSM. It will only work on a new style database (09AUG94). Find it on sunsite.unc.edu (I don't know yet where there). Filename is lsmtool-0.1.tar.gz. Source only. ============================================================================= As of the 09AUG94 version... ============================================================================= The 09AUG94 version of the template is a radical change from the syntax of earlier versions. It is not upward compatible. There are several reasons for the change: * no limits on line lengths * less awkward multi-line format * nicer method (for the user) for specifying the ftp site and files * one entry for all files comprising a package The new version is identified by the "Begin3" line that starts it. Earlier versions had "Begin" and "Begin3". Old versions will be accepted for a while, but please use the newest one to make things easier for me. ============================================================================= The LSM Entry Form ============================================================================= The general syntax is now similar to that of netnews headers, i.e., a keyword (at the beginning of a line), a colon (with no spaces separating it from the keyword), and text that may be continued to the next line by starting each continuing line with whitespace (space, tab). Empty lines are also allowed (unlike netnews). Since fields may be several lines long, there is no longer a separate keyword for each line (we now have one "Description" keyword, where the older versions had "Desc1", "Desc2", and so on). There are no limits on the line lenght or the number of lines for one keyword, but please try to be short, especially in the description. Don't put the whole README into the description, usually half a dozen of lines is more than enough. Please keep each line (including keyword) below 80 characters for maximal viewing comfort. Use a tab width of 8 spaces, or don't use tabs at all. Mandatory fields: Title, Version, Entered-date, Description, Primary-site. Descriptions of the fields (an empty form is included at the end; use that to fill in). PLEASE NOTE THAT THE "Begin3" AND "End" LINES ARE ESSENTIAL. IF YOU REMOVE THEM, THE ENTRY WILL BE USELESS AND WILL REQUIRE MANUAL EDITING BY ME AND I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. Note that case is significant. Begin3 Title: MouseLess Commander Version: 0.14 Entered-date: 7, Sep 1994. Description: File manager with mouse support. Keywords: File manager, mouse support, gpm client, user shell, menu utility. Author: miguel@roxanne.nuclecu.unam.mx mok@roxanne.nuclecu.unam.mx Maintained-by: miguel@roxanne.nuclecu.unam.mx Primary-site: sunsite.unc.edu /pub/Linux/utils/file/managers 85k mc-0.14.tar.gz Alternate-site: ftp.nuclecu.unam.mx /linux/local 85k mc-0.14.tar.gz Platforms: ncurses 1.8.5; ftp.netcom.com:/pub/zmbenhal if Mouse Support is required, then the GPM mouse server. iride.unipv.it:/pub/gpm/ Copying-policy: GPL End ============================================================================= IAFA ============================================================================= The IAFA (Internet Anonymous Ftp Archives) have a form similar to LSM for specifying similar information about files. The 24JUL94 version of LSM is much more close to the IAFA format, but is still not quite the same. Straight IAFA is not suitable for LSM. It only allows one filename (many packages consist of several files). It is also awkward because it specifies different formats for records for different types of files. (This information is based on a draft version of a description on the iafa format from the iafa work group. The draft is dated 92.06.10; it was the newest I could find, but if there are any newer ones with significant changes, please send me information.) However, this revision of the LSM format tries to be as close to iafa as possible. The major differences are: * Package-name, Document-name, and Dataset-name are converted to one Primary-site (with site and location taken from Maintained-at, if given, or filled in by LSM maintainer). * Field names "Author" and "Revision-date" converted to "Authors" and "Version". * Other fields are added to the database as is. * Added fields: primary-site, alternate-site, original-site, entered-date, checked-date, and checked-status. * an LSM template _must_ begin with "Begin3" and end with "End", with both delimiters being the only things on the line (except for trailing whitespace), and must be at the beginning of the line. This is to make it easier to automatically extract them from news articles and such. * fields in an LSM entry can be in whatever order We only support iafa records for packages, documents and datasets. ============================================================================= Empty Template ============================================================================= Cut this out, fill it in, send it to me. Begin3 Title: Version: Entered-date: Description: Keywords: Author: Maintained-by: Primary-site: Alternate-site: Original-site: Platform: Copying-policy: End ---8<---8<--- This is the entry for lsmtool. Begin3 Title: lsmtool Version: 0.1 Entered-date: 09AUG94 Description: A tool for browsing and updating an LSM database. This is very fragile. Keywords: Linux Software Map, LSM, browser Author: lars.wirzenius@helsinki.fi (Lars Wirzenius) Primary-site: sunsite.unc.edu /pub/Linux/apps/databases lsmtool-0.1.tar.gz Platform: Linux, but should work on any Unix box with curses and ANSI C. Requires my Publib library, which can be found in ftp://ftp.cs.helsinki.fi/pub/Software/Local/Publib/ . Copying-policy: GPL End ---8<---8<--- This is the entry for Publib. Begin3 Title: Publib Version: 0.3 Entered-date: 09AUG94 Description: A library of reusable C functions. Publib consists of a framework for building and installing the library, and of a collection of modules that contain the actual library functions. Each module contains functions that somehow belong together (e.g., there are modules for string manipulation, and expression evaluation). Special attention has been given for making it easy to write new modules: a module writer needs to write very little more in addition to the actual C code for doing real work. Keywords: C, library, reusable, functions Author: lars.wirzenius@helsinki.fi (Lars Wirzenius) Primary-site: ftp.cs.helsinki.fi /pub/Software/Local/Publib liw-modules-0.3.tar.gz publib-0.3.README publib-0.3.tar.gz Platform: ANSI C, UNIX Copying-policy: framework is Public Domain, liw-modules under a Berkeley style copyright (although I don't think it says that anywhere) End -- Send submissions for comp.os.linux.announce to: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu Be sure to include Keywords: and a short description of your software.