R: Suggestions for FSD Documentation Regarding Adding New Pages

[Lorenzo L. Ancora]

Hi Jacob,
a few hints from an ex-volunteer:


> I knew how to check if software is free based on discussions in #fsf

Most were written by me in merrier times. However, obsolescence is unavoidable.

Free software evaluation cannot be fully automated (yet).
Scripts are only useful at the end of the process, to catch some human mistakes.

First, volunteers should be at ease, not feeling like they're walking on 
eggshells.
Second, the staff who evaluates must be neutral and not have conflicts of 
interests.
Finally, understanding a codebase requires up-to-date expertise, no way around.

Only when those conditions are met, the process of evaluation can be trusted.


> I don't have a good consistent way to get dependencies.

Modern languages can load new modules in memory during execution.

So, software can download and execute new dependencies at runtime.
In addition, apps can propose new licensing agreements in the UI.

The only solution is to test all entry submissions in a VM.


> If we want people who submit entries to scan them

Not everybody's going to be friendly and honest. Quite the opposite.
It would be most unwise to trust all submitters blindly.

That's all. If you need on-topic help, I remain at your disposal, as always.


Best regards,
Lorenzo
FSWDB webmaster



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