Subject: Linux Projects-FAQ
From: [email-masked] (Harald Milz)
Date: 16 Jun 1994 17:23:51 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce

As many users keep asking questions "who is working on
this and that" and "when and where is it going to be
available" every other day, I'll start the "Linux Projects
FAQ". Developers are invited to send me the status of
the project(s) they are working on, and I'll put it on
sunsite.unc.edu in the /pub/Linux/docs/faqs directory.
I'll post a reference to the FAQ in c.o.l.a (and
c.o.l.misc ?) once a week because many sites won't keep
their news longer than that. 

This is intended to reduce the overall traffic in those
newsgroups and rumours concerning those projects.  At last,
only such projects which are not yet in ALPHA are subject to
this FAQ. If code is available publicly, the project will
remain in the FAQ for a couple of weeks, stating where to
look for it, then vanish. The document will contain a smart
hint please not to flood the developers' mailboxes with
requests and queries. The FAQ will be up-to-date on a weekly
basis. Maybe I'll have to send queries to developers to keep
the beast up-to-date ;)

As a proposal, here's the header and a sample entry for this
FAQ. It is quite similar to the LSM template as of
05SEP93. Developers are asked to send me additional wishes
and flames.

----------------------------- snip -----------------------------

		  Linux Projects-FAQ

This is the Projects-FAQ for Linux. It contains some data
concerning popular projects that are currently in the design
or coding stage. Code for these projects is not publicly
available yet. However, the software is being worked on and
will be eventually available. Please DO NOT send tons of
questions to the developers but instead let them spend their
time on working on the project. This FAQ is updated on a
weekly basis and available on sunsite.unc.edu in the
/pub/Linux/docs/faqs directory.

New developers are invited to send me entries according to
the template shown below. The field "AuthorEmail" is
optional; if you don't believe people will leave you alone
simply leave it empty. 

This FAQ is for non-commercial Linux projects only. 

Sample entry (similar to an LSM entry):

Field:len          Description
-----------        ------------------------------------------------------
Title:40           The name of the package.  example: "NCR 53C810 SCSI driver"
Desc1:80           5 lines of text describing the package's function or purpose
Desc2:80           The more descriptive you are the more useful the entry 
Desc3:80           will be
Desc4:80
Desc5:80
Author:65          Who is going to write the package.
AuthorEmail:40     The author's email address (optional)
InfoSources1:80	   Some hints where to get additional information such as 
InfoSources2:80    mailing lists or local newsgroups
InfoSources3:80
Assistance:40      assistance seeked? {required | appreciated | not required }
CurrentStat:80     {still in the design phase | first code runs | approaching 
                    ALPHA status | in ALPHA | code is available on (FTP path)}
ETA:40             Estimated time of arrival (optional & conservative ;) 
Remarks1:80        Other info of value (up to the developer), 5 lines
Remarks2:80
Remarks3:80
Remarks4:80
Remarks5:80

----------------------------- snip -----------------------------

Waiting for your entries, suggestions and thoughts ...

-- 
Harald Milz                             office: [email-masked]
iX Multiuser Multitasking Magazine      home:   [email-masked]
Opinions are mine, not my employer's -- the answer is Forty-two

--
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PLEASE remember Keywords: and a short description of the software.