Improving the Free Software Directory
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I've got a few ideas about improving the Free Software Directory. This is probably not the best place to put them to communicate with the SFD maintainers (suggestions welcome), but I welcome any thoughts on these ideas from the community here.
1) The only time searching the FSD for an existing program's name produces a useful result is if the program is 100% free code and already listed (submitted, checked, and fully approved). It would be great if searching for any program in the FSD came up with some kind of information, even if it was just a note saying:
* X is proprietary software and will not be included in the FSD, unless its source code is released under a free license. Freedom-respecting replacements for X can be found here
* X is substantially composed of free code but contains significant proprietary elements that make it inappropriate for this directory, unless the source code for all those elements is released under a free license. Freedom-respecting replacements for X can be found here
* X is currently being assessed by the FSD team, but may have some software freedom issues that need to be resolved before it can be included in this directory. Replacements for X already confirmed as freedom-respecting can be found here
* X has not been submitted for assessment by the FSD team yet. Log in to submit it
2) Having to manually update version information creates a huge amount of extra work. In practice, version info is only kept up-to-date if the FSD maintainers have a special interest in a package, or if someone from the project stewards their own entry. Surely there is a way to automate this? Is there a standard (micro-)format that code forges can use to flag release information for each project they host? If not, how much effort would be required to create one?
3) There are various other directories that aggregate data about free code software (freshcode.club, openhub.net, libreprojects.net etc). Would it be possible to create a plug-in for the FSD that aggregates a list of programs added to those directories (from RSS feeds or similar?), runs it through a filter that removes duplicates, and programs that are already in the FSD, and stores it somewhere accessible only to logged in volunteers, to be checked and added to the FSD (if appropriate) as they have time? Would be good if it also checks programs added to the FSD, and removes them from the list if they are on it.
4) Finally, I know some may take issue with this, but I would rename it the Software Freedom Directory. It's just as accurate, less ambiguous in English, and a web search for that phrase is more likely to rank the actual directory highly in search results, and to have relevant sites alongside it. We know that a directory of software you don't have to pay for would be called the Freeware Directory, but Joe User is just as likely to think a site called Free Software Directory is for free-as-in-beer user apps, or that it's a software directory that's free-of-charge, like this one:
https://www.freesoftware.online/
One other thing, Joe User is sometimes confused about the difference between a program, a language, a distribution, a standard, a protocol, a service, and a format. It would be great if searching for the names of any of these things also gave them some useful information, even if was just links to another directory.
For example:
* if I search for Python, I get a good page, with an explanation and some useful links. This is a good example of what I'm suggesting for the categories below. The only thing I'd change on the language pages is to put the list of programs written in the language on the page, instead of (or alongside) the list of other languages, and include a link to the page for that language on libraries.io (or a fork of it that doesn't use "open source" language)
* if I search for Trisquel, I get a note saying that Trisquel is a GNU-Linux distribution endorsed by the FSF, with links to the Trisquel homepage, a page with a definition of "GNU-Linux distribution", and the endorsed distros page
* if I search for OStatus, I get a note saying that OStatus is a standard for exchange of posts between microblogging sites, with links to the OStatus page in the appropriate free standards directory, a page with the official OStatus spec, a page with a definition of "microblogging", and a list of programs in the FSD that support OStatus
* if I search for BitTorrent, I get a note saying that BitTorrent is a protocol for distributed file-sharing, with links to the BitTorrent page in the appropriate free protocols directory, the spec page on bittorrent.org, a page(s) with definitions of "distributed" and "file-sharing", and a list of programs in the FSD that support BitTorrent
* if I search for GoblinRefuge, I get a note saying that GoblinRefuge is a hosted service that runs MediaGoblin, with links to the MediaGoblin page in libreprojects.net, the MediaGoblin page on the FSD, the homepage of GoblinRefuge.com, a list of other MediaGoblin instances, and a list of client software in the FSD that works with MediaGoblin (obviously it would be impossible to cover every such service, but it is possible to identify a subset of well-know services users are likely to search for)
* if I search for OpenDocument, I get a note saying that OpenDocument is a format for storing office documents, spreadsheets, charts, and presentations, with links to the OpenDocument page in the appropriate free formats directory, the OpenDocument homepage on the OASIS site, and a list of programs in the FSD that support OpenDocument.
* If the name I search for is proprietary, patent-encumbered, or otherwise incompatible with software freedom (eg Wolfram, Ubuntu, Systems Network Architecture, AppleTalk, FarceBook, Docx), I get a template note explaining that, and offering a list of freedom-respecting replacements
Me:
"I've got a few ideas about improving the Free Software Directory."
BTW I'm aware that most of the improvements I describe represent a huge data entry effort, and I'm not demanding that all the data magically appear in the SFD without any effort for me. I'm just trying to establish whether these issues have been considered, and whether there is already FSD policy about them, before I start putting time into work that might be unwelcome, and only end up getting reversed or deleted.
I have gotten more use out of alternativeto.net, despite its flaws, than the FSD. Since it includes both proprietary and free software, I can search for the proprietary software I want to replace and browse free replacements. The popularity rankings are useful also. While the quality of free software is not an ethical issue, and free software is always preferable to proprietary software, it is helpful to know which free alternatives are most stable and best maintained.
However, there are several problems with the site.
(1) It is just as easy to find proprietary recommendations as it is to find free recommendations.
(2) It refers to open-source licenses instead of free/libre licenses, and licensing information is not reliable.
(3) The JavaShit is proprietary, and without it the only way to filter software recommendation by license is to append '?license=opensource' to the URL of your query.
The site is still useful if one is aware of these issues and checks the license of recommendations oneself, but I can only recommend the site with a disclaimer about its problems.
What would be ideal is a site with the same data as alternativeto, but
- with more accurate licensing info
- which allows one to search for proprietary software to replace, but only suggests free software as replacements
- which doesn't require require proprietary js
You should speak up and propose your help at the next IRC meetup, tomorrow (May, 4th): https://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/friday-free-software-directory-irc-meetup-time-may-4th-starting-at-12-00-p-m-edt-16-00-utc
Those meetups are frequent (roughly weekly) and announced on https://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/
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