Stet (software)
Encyclopedia
stet is a free software
package for gathering comments about a text document via a webpage.
as a service to its client, the Free Software Foundation
(FSF). The software was built to facilitate public consultation during the Version 3 draft process of the GNU General Public License
.
To comment on a document hosted in stet, the user must select a few words or a sentence from the text and anchor their comment to that specific text. This requirement, it was hoped, would increase the specificity and relevance of comments. Also, all the previous comments are visible to each new user. Heavily commented-on parts are highlighted by light to dark color-coding of the text according to the number of the comments.
stet is implemented in JavaScript
, XSLT
and Perl
, using parts of Request Tracker
. The initial development was managed by Bradley M. Kuhn
, CTO of the SFLC
, and implemented by Orion Montoya who was on a one-year contract with the SFLC
. The only known deployment of stet to date is available at the GPLv3 Draft Process site, gplv3.fsf.org.
On 21 November 2007, Kuhn
announced that SFLC released stet under the Affero General Public License
, making stet the first program known to have been used in the generation of its own software license.
As of 2009, stet is not actively developed, and its project page recommends co-ment
instead: a software with very similar functionality, but written in Python
/Django, developed by Sopinspace, the firm of SFLC director Philippe Aigrain.
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
package for gathering comments about a text document via a webpage.
History
The initial version was developed from late 2005 until mid-2006 by the Software Freedom Law CenterSoftware Freedom Law Center
The Software Freedom Law Center is an organization that provides pro bono legal representation and related services to not-for-profit developers of free software/open source software. It was launched in February 2005 with Eben Moglen as Chairman. Initial funding of US$4 million was pledged by...
as a service to its client, the Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
(FSF). The software was built to facilitate public consultation during the Version 3 draft process of the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
To comment on a document hosted in stet, the user must select a few words or a sentence from the text and anchor their comment to that specific text. This requirement, it was hoped, would increase the specificity and relevance of comments. Also, all the previous comments are visible to each new user. Heavily commented-on parts are highlighted by light to dark color-coding of the text according to the number of the comments.
stet is implemented in JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
, XSLT
XSL Transformations
XSLT is a declarative, XML-based language used for the transformation of XML documents. The original document is not changed; rather, a new document is created based on the content of an existing one. The new document may be serialized by the processor in standard XML syntax or in another format,...
and Perl
Perl
Perl is a high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language. Perl was originally developed by Larry Wall in 1987 as a general-purpose Unix scripting language to make report processing easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions and become widely popular...
, using parts of Request Tracker
Request Tracker
Request Tracker, commonly abbreviated to RT, is a ticket-tracking system written in Perl used to coordinate tasks and manage requests among a community of users. RT's first release in 1996 was written by Jesse Vincent, who later formed Best Practical Solutions LLC to distribute, develop, and...
. The initial development was managed by Bradley M. Kuhn
Bradley M. Kuhn
Bradley M. Kuhn is a free software activist from the United States.Kuhn is currently Executive Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy. Until 2010 he was the FLOSS Community Liaison and Technology Director of the Software Freedom Law Center . He previously served as the Executive Director of...
, CTO of the SFLC
Software Freedom Law Center
The Software Freedom Law Center is an organization that provides pro bono legal representation and related services to not-for-profit developers of free software/open source software. It was launched in February 2005 with Eben Moglen as Chairman. Initial funding of US$4 million was pledged by...
, and implemented by Orion Montoya who was on a one-year contract with the SFLC
Software Freedom Law Center
The Software Freedom Law Center is an organization that provides pro bono legal representation and related services to not-for-profit developers of free software/open source software. It was launched in February 2005 with Eben Moglen as Chairman. Initial funding of US$4 million was pledged by...
. The only known deployment of stet to date is available at the GPLv3 Draft Process site, gplv3.fsf.org.
On 21 November 2007, Kuhn
Bradley M. Kuhn
Bradley M. Kuhn is a free software activist from the United States.Kuhn is currently Executive Director of the Software Freedom Conservancy. Until 2010 he was the FLOSS Community Liaison and Technology Director of the Software Freedom Law Center . He previously served as the Executive Director of...
announced that SFLC released stet under the Affero General Public License
Affero General Public License
The Affero General Public License, often abbreviated as Affero GPL and AGPL , refers to two distinct, though historically related, free software licenses:...
, making stet the first program known to have been used in the generation of its own software license.
As of 2009, stet is not actively developed, and its project page recommends co-ment
Co-ment
co-ment is an online word processor allowing collaborative work on text writing. It's the descendant of the tool created to handle the GNU GPL version 3 online revision. It is freely available under Affero GPL.- Description :...
instead: a software with very similar functionality, but written in Python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
/Django, developed by Sopinspace, the firm of SFLC director Philippe Aigrain.
External links
- http://gplv3.fsf.org/wiki/index.php/Comment_system Documentation
- http://gplv3.fsf.org/comments - the GPLv3 webportal which uses stet
- http://gitorious.org/stet - Software development site for stet