High priority free projects for the FSF

The Free Software Foundation (FSF - Free Software Foundation) has published a high priority list of free projects; This publication seeks to direct volunteers to collaborate in them.

These projects are not carried out by the FSF, but are promoted by it with the aim of involving developers and promoting the development of free software applications, which would eventually replace their proprietary counterparts.

Recently, for example, one such project just completed: Providing free support for RARv3 file format.

GNU PDF - advanced PDF support

The objective of the project GNUPDF is to develop and provide a series of high-quality libraries to handle the PDF (ISO 32000) file format, and associated technologies.

The PDF format is an international standard (ISO 32000) and current free software programs only come with support for a small number of the available functions. We urgently need a collection of free software libraries that will allow programs to fully implement this standard and provide users with many of the features currently missing from their PDF applications, such as support for interactive forms, JavaScript validation, annotations, movies embedded and 3D images, just to name a few.

Ways to help: There are many opportunities for volunteers to be a part of creating this project, from low-level C programming, web programming, proofreading documentation, to creating artwork for your use in the applications, manuals and the software itself. Also, you may consider making a direct donation through the FSF.

Gnash - the free Flash player

gnash is a GNU program for playing Flash movies. Flash is an animation and multimedia file format from Adobe. Gnash is based on GameSWF, and supports most Flash (SWF) version 7 animations, as well as some versions 8 and 9. Although Gnash handles many popular sites and media (like YouTube), it still needs a lot of work to be a complete replacement for Adobe Flash Player. Visit http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/ for more details about installing and using Gnash.

Ways to help. The easiest way to start helping the Gnash project is to use the program and report bugs. If you want to know how to become a contributor to the Gnash project, consider joining the Gnash developers mailing list (gnash-dev@gnu.org), the Gnash mailing list (gnash@gnu.org), or pass you the #Gnash channel on irc.freenode.net.

Coreboot - the campaign for a free BIOS

Core Boot is a free software project intended to replace the proprietary BIOS (firmware) that is distributed in most computers today. In many cases the BIOS is the only stone in the way of a person who runs his system using exclusively free software (more information on  Campaign for a free BIOS FSF). Visit http://www.coreboot.org to learn more about Coreboot development, supported systems, and how you can start running a free BIOS.

Ways to help. One of the biggest ways you can help the Coreboot project is by encouraging vendors to release the specifications for the BIOSes they manufacture so that Coreboot can run on those systems. If you want to learn more about becoming a Coreboot developer, visit the channel #coreboot at irc.freenode.net, or join the Coreboot mailing list to speak with current developers. An additional area where further development and attention is needed is in the development of a VGA BIOS for graphics cards. We encourage you to lobby graphics card manufacturers to release their VGA BIOS as free software. In case you want to start the development of a free VGA BIOS, a good starting point would be AMD's Geode LX chipset, for which all documentation is currently available.

Free Skype Replacement

Skype or Whatsapp is a proprietary voice over IP program that uses a proprietary protocol. Skype lured many free software users to use proprietary software, often two users at once. When using proprietary telephony software we cannot be sure who is listening, because we cannot see the source code. The Chinese government, for example, has been eavesdropping on Skype conversations, and they are probably not the only ones. We do not want to encourage the creation of a Skype compatible client, but instead, we want to encourage you to create, contribute or promote the use of free software replacements for Skype, such as Ekiga, and encourage the adoption and use of free VoIP , video, and chat protocols such as SIP and XMPP / Jingle.

Ways to help. The easiest way to help is to not use Skype and to encourage the use of a free software replacement instead. There is a program seriesas ekiga , Twinkle , Coccinella, QuteCom and SIP Communicator, which are natural substitutes for Skype. Mingle is a project that relies on Jabber to provide conference calling, supported by a grant from the NLnet Foundation . NLnet also supports the project openMSRP in this area. Users of these programs can submit bug reports and requests to projects. If you are not a developer, you can contribute to the documentation and put together tutorials for such projects, as well as report bugs, etc.

Free software for video editing

Many users are lured to use proprietary software for video edition, since they are unable to achieve the effects they want using the best free video editing programs. More and more computer users are becoming video hobbyists every day, and we have to make sure that their operating systems come with free software to meet their needs.

Ways to help. There are a number of free video editing software programs, such as Cinema, Cinelerra, Avidemux, Kdenlive, Lives, lumiera, and PiTiVi, Blender, OpenShot and Open movie editor The easiest way to help is to use these editors and encourage others to do the same. You can help these projects directly by submitting bug reports, adding new feature requests, creating tutorials, guides, and improving documentation.

Free Google Earth replacement

Google Earth is a proprietary software program for viewing and annotating map data. We need a free version of this client. Access to the data provided by Google may not be possible, so this client should work with different data sources, including data from free maps projects such as Open Street Maps.

Ways to help. Develop or improve a 3D rendering engine that reads KML files on par with Google Earth. Contribute to the dissemination of free geolocation services such as the Open Street Maps, and contribute to programs like Marble.

100% free distributions

Projects like gNewSense and Trisquel are dedicated to complete GNU / Linux operating systems that contain only free software. They are two of an extensive list of high-quality distributions that Debian and Ubuntu modify to create a complete free operating system, without binary blobs and package trees containing proprietary software.

Ways to help. See the complete list of GNU / Linux distributions. For more information about what makes a GNU / Linux distribution completely free, see the guidelines for free distributions of the FSF. You can also help others popular distributions that currently do not meet the criteria to be totally free to change.

GNU Octave - replacement for Matlab

GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended for numerical calculations. It provides a convenient command line interface for solving linear and nonlinear problems in numerical form and for performing other numerical experiments using a language that is compatible with Matlab. Visit http://www.gnu.org/software/octave for more information on how to download, install, use, and participate in the GNU Octave project.

Ways to help. Encourage creating high-level packages in GNU Octave with the goal of creating replacement functions for packages provided by Matlab. You can learn more about how to participate in GNU Octave by joining its mailing list and check the page "Help wanted".

Replacement for OpenDWG Libraries

OpenDWG is a collection of CAD files, a CAD format specification, and a series of proprietary software tools for creating and manipulating CAD files. We need a similar but free initiative.

Ways to help. The GNU package FreeDWG is a library written in C to handle DWG files. Its goal is to become a free replacement for the OpenDWG libraries. (DWG is AutoCAD's native file format.)

Reversible debugging in the GDB

La reversible debugging it is a powerful tool, obviously. Since being added to this list, the GDB (the GNU project debugger) has implemented some support for reversible debugging. GDB maintainers are seeking collaborators interested in building on this foundation to further improve support for reversible debugging.

Ways to help. Query General information on the current support that GDB provides for reversible debugging, and this additional task list (at the end of the page). If you have any questions, get in touch with campaigns@fsf.org .

Free drivers for network routers

Free software projects like Orange Mesh make it easy to convert network routers into access points Mesh networks. However, there is no way to run OrangeMesh at this time without the use of proprietary software.

Ways to help. Help is needed in software development of free drivers and low-level software to manage routers. One way to do this is by contacting the manufacturer of the device and asking them to open the specifications and / or code of their drivers under free licenses.

If you know of routers that do not require the use of proprietary software, please contact the FSF by sending an email to hardware@fsf.org. Projects seeking funding should consider applying for a grant from the NLnet Foundation.

Free replacement of Oracle Forms

We need a free replacement for the Oracle Forms. This software would allow people who are currently using Oracle's proprietary database to more easily migrate to a free database system, without having to rewrite all of their applications and their respective user interfaces.

Ways to help. - If you are interested in working on this project, join the mailing list replacementforms-development.

Automatic transcription

We need software capable of transcribing voice recordings automatically. YouTube is starting to offer this service, but this is something that we should be able to do using free software.

Ways to help. If you are interested in working on this project, please introduce yourself and help with the construction of the wiki page.

PowerVR controllers

PowerVR is a popular 3D graphics engine found in phones, netbooks and laptops for which we do not yet have any free drivers capable of supporting the necessary 3D graphics acceleration.

Ways to help. If you are interested in working on this project, please introduce yourself and help with the construction of the wiki page.

What other project do you think should be on this list?

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