Re: Help needed: APL reference documentation in ELPA

["Elias Mårtenson" <lokedhs@gmail.com>]

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(In this mail, "gnu-apl-mode" refers to the Emacs mode that I have built,
which "GNU APL" refers to the GNU product of the same name).

The Emacs mode has support for searching and automatically displaying
documentation (it also integrates with Eldoc). There is code in there to
detect whether the function is used in a monadic or dyadic context and
instructs Eldoc to pop up the correct documentation.

I fully agree with you that the documentation really doesn't belong in the
gnu-apl-mode itself. It really belongs in GNU APL. That said, no matter
where the documentation can be found, it needs to be in some
machine-readable form so that gnu-apl-mode is able to access it.

As for IBM's documentation, I approached them and asked if they were
willing to license the reference documentation in a form appropriate for
this project. They did give me a license to use it, but that license is
tied to gnu-apl-mode. This is the reason I would like to replace it with
something that is GPL compatible.

Since I had the license to use it, I did put it in there, but as soon as
this thing goes into ELPA, it will have to be removed. Since I'm now close
to actually doing this, I felt it was time to try once again to get help
with the documentation.

Finally, I have worked very closely with Jürgen who is the maintainer of
GNU APL. I don't think he's opposed to including documentation in the GNU
APL package (as opposed to gnu-apl-mode) but including the IBM
documentation is obviously out of the question.

In summary: Yes, the documentation belongs in GNU APL proper. And if free
documentation can be produced, it will most likely be included in GNU APL
itself, with gnu-apl-mode simply accessing it.

Regards,
Elias


On 26 May 2014 00:03, Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote:

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> [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
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>
>     I have one concern, and that is the fact that it currently includes
>     reference documentation that was taken from the IBM APL2
> documentation. I
>     have a license to use this from IBM, but the license is only for this
>     specific project, which obviously is incompatible with the Emacs
> license.
>
> Are you planning to include a manual for APL in GNU Emacs?
> I don't think that makes sense.  We don't include a C manual in Emacs.
>
> I think it is better to distribute APL documentation separately.
>
> _How_ does IBM permit you to use that material?  Are you distributing
> it under a free license?  What license does IBM say you can or must use?
>
> --
> Dr Richard Stallman
> President, Free Software Foundation
> 51 Franklin St
> Boston MA 02110
> USA
> www.fsf.org  www.gnu.org
> Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software.
>   Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call.
>
>

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