Re: the diff procedure

[Karl Berry]

Hi Tom,

    Karl, today I went to <www.gnu.og>, selected [GNU Packages], entered
    'diff' to search, and 'numdiff' appeared on the list.  

It's a confusion due to the (suboptimal) Free Software Directory web
interface.  When you enter "diff" in that search box, you are searching
the entire FSD, not just the GNU packages.

Rather, the "GNU Packages" link takes you directly to the list of *all*
GNU packages.  There is no way to search within that list only.

    It looks like the home page entry should be [GNU Project Software].

The existing "GNU Packages" phrase seems more correct to me, actually.
Perhaps the FSD category name should be changed, although it doesn't
seem so bad, either.  The meaning is the same, anyway.

    Maybe the list could have an asterisk to indicate GNU packages.
    Anyway, the distinction is blurred with the current setup

Agreed.  I have had an outstanding request for years to identify GNU
packages on the search result page.  It's a long, sad story.

FWIW, the individual package pages do identify GNU packages, with a GNU head.
Compare:
http://directory.fsf.org/project/diffutils/  (GNU image)
http://directory.fsf.org/project/numdiff/    (no image)

Best,
Karl