some questions to GCC steering commitee (at GCC Summit) related to documentation from code

[Basile Starynkevitch <basile at starynkevitch dot net>]

Hello All,

I will attend the GCC Summit (unless some strikes in France will cancel
all flights to Canada; I hope not, but I don't know...) and I am busy
preparing my GCC MELT tutorial slides. [See
http://gcc-melt.org/leaflet.html for more]

There are a few questions I will definitely ask to the Steering
Commitee, most of them related to generating documentation from source
code.

As I explained in many long threads like 
http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc-patches/2010-06/msg00460.html and
http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2010-05/msg00539.html
& many others
the MELT technical documentation meltgendoc.texi is built by a MELT
specific mode -i.e. by a MELT specific software tool- from MELT source
code files *.melt

I really want to generate documentation from code, because it is the
only documentation I've got. Not being able to do that means losing
documentation and a lot of work... I don't understand what is permitted
or not... (I got too much contradicting advices).

Several people gave me contradictory advices (potential GFDL vs GPL
license conflict?!), and when meeting FSF persons (e.g. at
OpenWorldForum in Paris a few weeks ago) I am also getting other
advices.

So I will ask face to face practical advices on these issues, in
particular I need to understand who is able to give me constructive &
"definitive" advices (apparently I asked on licensing@fsf.org and Karl
Berry replied, but probably his opinion is not powerful enough).

Perhaps a solution could be for GCC MELT to package the generated
meltgendoc.texi in a document independent of gcc.texi or gccint.texi
and licensed under GPLv3.

But I really want to meet at the GCC Summit someone who is able to take
decisions and has power to give good advices on these... I am very
confused.

If you are a member of the GCC "politburo" [that is the highest
decision taking authority & decision about GCC, I don't understand what
it is, who is there, and what it is called (SC or FSF?)] please give me
a few minutes of your precious time at the GCC Summit. If possible,
give me (perhaps by private email) your name & quality and most
importantly fix a time to meet there. I need to explain things in a
dozen of minutes with a laptop & face to face. I tried to explain by
email to gcc@gcc.gnu.org & gcc-patches@gcc.gnu.org & licensing@fsf.org
but failed.

What I want to avoid is to get advice from the "wrong" persons, or
being told "do this" by person X and later by person Y "don't do this,
X told you wrongly". What I hope is concrete enough advices telling put
such & such licensing comments and such & such make rules to produce
such & such MELT documentation which could be "freely" redistributed
under such & such conditions (e.g. could be packaged in Debian).

>From France, understanding the decision making inside GCC is next to
impossible -very probably, as impossible it is for US people to
understand why planes might not take off from Paris Charles de Gaulle
airport... :-) :-) :-) [and even I cannot explain the details of
transportation strikes in France]

Cheers.

BTW I strongly believe that such documentation issues are not specific
to GCC MELT. They will & should happen, especially when going C++ &
doxygen etc... So the question is of general interest... and should get
a broad answer....


-- 
Basile STARYNKEVITCH         http://starynkevitch.net/Basile/
email: basile<at>starynkevitch<dot>net mobile: +33 6 8501 2359
8, rue de la Faiencerie, 92340 Bourg La Reine, France
*** opinions {are only mine, sont seulement les miennes} ***