X-Git-Url: http://winboard.nl/cgi-bin?a=blobdiff_plain;f=FAQ.html;h=74435a1db4147d7475c6e986dae78319d5973f39;hb=84f5fb6b9383e608570b90f6acc12f96d2781979;hp=9f1feef7132e6b4fcbc01c010772410cf4712348;hpb=b8ccc2d03263c833777a7c055a372501b40bc7ce;p=xboard.git
diff --git a/FAQ.html b/FAQ.html
index 9f1feef..74435a1 100644
--- a/FAQ.html
+++ b/FAQ.html
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ the Web through the page
"http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html"
>http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html.
+This FAQ is in need of revision. Please contact us if you'd like
+to help update it.
+
Outline
@@ -191,12 +194,13 @@ not work on Windows CE (also known as Pocket PC), nor does it work on
-As a shortcut to most things mentioned in this FAQ, try my Chess Web page,
-http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html.
-My Web page is the best place to get the latest versions of XBoard and WinBoard
-and the most up-to-date version of this FAQ.
+As a shortcut to most things mentioned in this FAQ, try Tim Mann's
+Chess Web page, http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html. This page page is a good
+place to get the latest released versions of XBoard and WinBoard and
+the most up-to-date version of this FAQ. Also see our Savannah
+project pages at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/.
If you have other questions about XBoard/WinBoard that aren't answered
in this FAQ, you can try Aaron Tay's WinBoard and Chess Engines FAQ, at
@@ -265,21 +269,25 @@ At this writing, the current version numbers are:
-Tim Mann maintains this FAQ and is the lead developer on XBoard and
-WinBoard, but he has little time to work on the project. Many others
-occasionally contribute suggestions and snippets of code, for which we
-are grateful.
+Please see our Savannah project pages at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/ for a list of active
+developers. Many others occasionally contribute suggestions and
+snippets of code, for which we are grateful.
-At present, bug reports, suggestions, and offers to help on XBoard
-or WinBoard should be sent directly to
-tim@tim-mann.org (Tim Mann).
-Beginner questions and discussion about the program may get faster
+
Bug reports, suggestions, and offers to help on XBoard
+or WinBoard should be sent to
+bug-xboard@gnu.org.
+
+
Beginner questions and discussion about the program may get faster
answers on the WinBoard Forum at http://f11.parsimony.net/forum16635/. If you are developing a
+>http://f11.parsimony.net/forum16635/.
+
+
If you are developing a
chess engine that works with XBoard or WinBoard (or an alternative
GUI that works with such engines), see the Chess Engines mailing
list, hosted at
@@ -314,57 +322,50 @@ are very meaningful to us and essential for diagnosing problems.
-There are no firm plans. As with most free software projects, the
-next release will happen when it happens -- or it may never happen.
-This has always been the policy for XBoard/WinBoard. Releases have
-never been promised in specific time frames.
+
Our plans are always in flux. As with most free software projects,
+the next release will happen when it happens -- or it may never
+happen. This has always been the policy for XBoard/WinBoard.
+Releases have never been promised in specific time frames.
-
Currently, there are few developments in the pipeline, they have
-not gotten far, and they are moving along very slowly, if at all.
-This is mainly because I no longer enjoy working on the project. I
-have many other things to do that are more important, more fun, or
-both, and they more than fill my waking hours. If another qualified
-programmer would like to take over the project, I'd welcome that.
-Please contact me if you're interested.
+
Starting in November 2003, several new developers have joined the
+project, and work is now hosted at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/. Lots of work is just
+getting underway, but nothing is far along yet.
-
That said, here are some items that have a nonzero probability of
-happening in finite time. Most of the probabilities are actually
-pretty small.
+
Here is a partial list of items that have a nonzero probability of
+happening in finite time.
-- Small bug fixes. Occasionally someone sends me a fix, or reports
-a small bug very clearly so that I'm able to fix it in a few minutes
-work. At this writing (May 26, 2003), all the bug fixes I've made
-in my sources are included in version 4.2.7.
+
- Small bug fixes. Occasionally someone sends us a fix, or reports
+a small bug very clearly so that we're able to fix it in a few minutes
+work.
- Protocol version 3. The members of the chess engine authors'
-mailing list and I discussed a set of proposed features for the next
-version of the XBoard/WinBoard chess engine communication protocol.
-This project has gotten only as far as that discussion took it: I've
-saved the proposal that I posted and all the comments on it, but I've
-done roughly nothing on revising the protocol spec to fold in the
-changes, and nothing on implementing any of them. This is too bad;
-revising the engine protocol was the last part of the project that I
-really thought was important. It is perhaps less important now with
-the increasing popularity of the UCI protocol, but it would still be
-nice to clean up some remaining deficiencies of the XBoard/WinBoard
-protocol.
-
-
- Contributed features. Several people have mailed me code to
-add various features. I've had some these contributions for over a
-year and haven't found time to even try them, much less integrate them
-into a release. Recently I've put them all up on my Web site in case
-others would like to try them out.
-
-
- Code move into CVS on Savannah. I've done nothing on this so far,
-but it would be nice in order to facilitate others working on the
-code. It would also provide an easier way for people to get bug fixes
-that I haven't rolled into a release yet. This wouldn't be terribly
-useful for most WinBoard users, though, since the average WinBoard
-user would have absolutely no idea how to download code from CVS and
-compile it.
-
-There is nothing else in the works.
+mailing list discussed a set of proposed features for the next version
+of the XBoard/WinBoard chess engine communication protocol.
+Unfortunately, this project has gotten only as far as that discussion
+took it; no revisions of the protocol spec or coding have been done
+yet. A few simple features are very clearly needed, though, and will
+probably appear in time.
+
+
Contributed features. Several people have mailed me code to add
+various features. Most of this code is available on the
+XBoard/WinBoard extensions page at http://www.tim-mann.org/extensions.html, but it is not in any
+official releases yet. We are in the process of getting folks to
+formally assign the copyrights on their contributions to the Free
+Software Foundation so that we can include it in official releases in
+the future.
+
+
Internationalization. Several people have expressed interest in
+internationalizing XBoard/WinBoard, and so hopefully this project will
+go forward. Once the internationalization support is in, we will need
+more translators. Watch for news on the xboard-devel mailing list on
+our Savannah pages.
+
+
@@ -462,21 +463,21 @@ AmyBoard is available in the Internet Chess Library (topic [A.2
-Because MacOS X has a Unix base, XBoard will compile and run on it.
-You do need an X11 (X Window System) server and client libraries.
-These do not come with Mac OS, but both free and commercial versions
-are available. Once you install the X11 package, XBoard is reported
-to compile and run without changes. I am not a Mac user and have not
-tried this myself, so I cannot answer questions about it.
-
-Version 4.2.6 and earlier of XBoard come with an old copy of the
-config.sub utility that does not recognize Mac OS X, so to build
-XBoard, you'll have to tell the configure program what OS you are
-running. Follow the instructions in topic [B.7]
-of this FAQ, but add the argument --host=powerpc-apple-bsd to
-the end of the "configure" command line.
-
-There is no version of XBoard or WinBoard that runs with the native
+Note: I am not a Mac user and have not tried this myself, so I cannot
+answer questions about it.
+
+Because MacOS X has a Unix base, XBoard will compile and run on it.
+You do need an X11 (X Window System) server and client libraries. I'm
+told that these come standard with MacOS X 10.3 and later. Once you
+install the X11 package, XBoard is reported to compile and run without
+changes.
+
+
You can avoid having to compile XBoard (and GNU Chess) yourself by
+using the Fink sofware packaging system. See
+http://fink.sourceforge.net/ and
+http://finkcommander.sourceforge.net/ for more info on Fink.
+
+
There is no version of XBoard or WinBoard that runs with the native
(non-X11) Mac graphical interface, and none that runs on MacOS 9 or
earlier.
@@ -486,11 +487,8 @@ earlier.
No. This port would probably be a lot easier than the Win32 and Amiga
ports were, because VMS has the X Window system (under the name
-DECwindows) and is now POSIX compliant. However, I don't know enough
-about VMS to do the port myself, and I don't have time. If you do,
-give it a try! Send mail to me,
-tim@tim-mann.org (Tim Mann), if you're
-working on this.
+DECwindows) and is now POSIX compliant. If you are working on this,
+send mail to bug-xboard@gnu.org to let us know.
@@ -1435,7 +1433,8 @@ Software Foundation, www.fsf.org.
After connecting to a chess server, XBoard 4.0.2 and later sends an
escape sequence to its terminal that is meant to display your handle
-and the ICS host name (for example, "user@chessclub.com") in the
+and the ICS host name (for example,
+"user@chessclub.com") in the
terminal's banner and icon. It seems that several of the alternative
X terminal programs have a bug that makes them hang when sent this
escape sequence.
@@ -1607,7 +1606,8 @@ network. It runs only under Microsoft Windows. Some of the code in
Winsock Chess is derived from GNU Chess, but it is not maintained by
the GNU Chess team. You can get a copy from the Internet Chess
Library; see topic [A.2]. For more information,
-contact its author, Donald Munro, ccahdm@beluga.upe.ac.za.
+contact its author, Donald Munro,
+ccahdm@beluga.upe.ac.za.
@@ -1625,7 +1625,8 @@ reading it. Among other things, this file contains instructions on
how to install Crafty as a command-line application on your machine.
There is a Crafty mailing list.
-To subscribe, send email to majordomo@cis.uab.edu, with
+To subscribe, send email to
+majordomo@cis.uab.edu, with
"subscribe crafty-list" in the body.