SAL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Contents 1. SAL's Category/Structure 1.1 Why don't you list software X in section Y? 1.2 Why don't you create a new section Z? 1.3 Why don't you refine the section Z? 2. SAL's Content/Information 2.1 Why are there broken links/typos/grammatical errors in SAL? 2.2 Why don't I see software X listed in SAL? 2.3 Why don't I see the software I submitted being listed? 2.4 Why don't you do software rating? 3. SAL's Web Layout/Design 3.1 Why does SAL front page crash my browser? 3.2 Why don't you use frame? 3.3 Is there a button image that I can use to link the SAL site from my web pages? 4. Miscellaneous 4.1 Is there a mailing list for SAL? 4.2 Do you distribute the entire SAL in one package? 4.3 How do I mirror SAL officially? 4.4 Can I put advertising banner in SAL for my product? 4.5 Why is Kachina Technologies, Inc. interested in supporting SAL? 4.6 How did you find all the information in SAL? 4.7 Can I have the source of the Java applets used in SAL?

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1. SAL's Category/Structure 1.1 Why don't you list software X in section Y? As there are many software which have many functionalities in a single package, sometimes it is difficult to decide which category a certain software should be listed. When that happens, we usually identified several key categories that the software belongs to, and place the software in a major category and have links from other minor categories. Certainly it could be very subjective, and please let us know if you have other idea. 1.2 Why don't you create a new section Z? We receive several responses who like to see a much wider coverage in SAL (like kernel drivers, sound applications, etc). Certainly the definition of "Scientific" can go even further than what SAL currently is covering. However, we restrict ourself to applications/tools/libraries in the conventional scientific/engineering fields. With the rapid development in some fields, SAL is sure to include more areas, like "Information Processing", in future. 1.3 Why don't you refine the section Z? With the growth of software listing in SAL, it might be worthwhile in refining some of the sub-categories. For example, we have grouped similar software within the Numerical-Misc sub-catetory, thgouth not separate pages yet. The longest section in SAL is "Programming Language & Compiler" sub-category, and we have no idea how to refine it ;)

2. SAL's Content/Information 2.1 Why are there broken links/typos/grammatical errors in SAL? All software repositories have problem of broken links, due to the fast changing world of network. We have been trying our best to follow the changing URL, and we also rely on you to identify broken links for us. There are lots of contents in SAL database. Though we have been carefully put those information into SAL, errors are not completely avoidable. Please also help us on improving SAL's readability. 2.2 Why don't I see software X listed in SAL? Though SAL is already the largest Linux/UNIX scientific related software information bank, it is still growing steadily and it doesn't claim to include all the software available to Linux. So, please help us to grow SAL through this submission form when you see a software that should be listed in SAL. 2.3 Why don't I see the software I submitted being listed? It happens sometime when we cannot find a suitable categories for the software that some users had submitted. We will have to hold on the information for future use when there is a proper category that can host the software that you had submitted. 2.4 Why don't you do software rating? As there are so many software listed in SAL, it is sometime hard for users to select the "best one". However, most of software in SAL (even listed under same category) have their distinct features and make them special in certain area of applications. Hence it is not fair to do rating just based on one particular area of application, as that might not fit your own need. What we suggest is that, you could post your question to the SAL mailing list and we can all discuss about it.

3. SAL's Web Layout/Design 3.1 Why does SAL front page crash my browser? It is because the web browser you are using does not have a proper Java implementation. SAL uses Java applet in its front page and many software listing pages, and they are very useful in navigating the SAL site. In particular, we know that SAL crash Netscape Ver 3.01. SAL suggest using Netscape 3.04 and up for browsing. 3.2 Why don't you use frame? SAL has a framed version in early 1996, but has stayed away from frame for a while now. So SAL is completely viewable from plain text browser like Lynx. 3.3 Is there a button image that I can use to link the SAL site from my web pages? Please use the following logos when needed: http://sal.kachinatech.com/images/salgld1.gif (92x76) http://sal.kachinatech.com/images/salchrost.gif (126x153)

4. Miscellaneous 4.1 Is there a mailing list for SAL? Yes, there is an SAL mailing list sal-list@KachinaTech.COM. To subscribe to the list, send email to Majordomo@KachinaTech.COM with subscribe sal-list in the message body. To unsubscribe from the list, you should put unsubscribe sal-list your-email-address in the message body. The SAL mailing list is used for general discussion of SAL, and information of brief summary of recent new item addition. 4.2 Do you distribute the entire SAL in one package? Not currently. The most important reason is that SAL is changing very fast every day. New items addition, information update (version, new URL, new features...) makes up a very busy schedule for SAL team. The only way to offer you the most current information is through the web, not the SAL distribution. Furthermore, single SAL distribution is more than 8MB in tar.gz format, without the important search engine :-( 4.3 How do I mirror SAL officially? We do not suggest web based mirroring methods as it takes to much bandwidth on the network. So we have adopted FTP/patch approach. If you are interested in becoming an official mirror site of SAL, please contact us through email sal@kachinatech.com for details. 4.4 Can I put advertising banner in SAL for my product? Yes, please have a look of the list of our current sponsors, and please contact us for more details. 4.5 Why is Kachina Technologies, Inc. interested in supporting SAL? 1) Dr. Jou owns part of the company, and 2) Kachina Technologies, Inc. is in the business of both Linux and scientific computing. 4.6 How did you find all the information in SAL? Many user contributions plus lots of time surfing and reading on the web with the hope to improve SAL and the future of Linux. 4.7 Can I have the source of the Java applets used in SAL? Yes, please contact us for the request. However, we do hope that you can give us any improvement on those applets.

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