From ???@??? 00:00:00 1997 +0000 Status: R Return-Path: Received: from smtp02.mrf.mail.rcn.net ([207.172.4.61]) by hummingbird (EarthLink SMTP Server) with ESMTP id tve8f7.l1f.37tiu3t for ; Sat, 17 Nov 2001 18:50:15 -0800 (PST) Received: from 66-44-93-9.s517.tnt8.lnhva.md.dialup.rcn.com ([66.44.93.9] helo=erols.com) by smtp02.mrf.mail.rcn.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #10) id 165I2h-0005iy-00 for rburkey2005@earthlink.net; Sat, 17 Nov 2001 21:50:48 -0500 Message-ID: <3BF7223D.8BC8BBE3@erols.com> Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 21:51:41 -0500 From: William A Whitaker X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en]C-DIAL (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en-US MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Ron Burkey Subject: Re: Two questions about reusing the Latin dictionary. References: <01111620421700.00972@rburkey2005> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Status: N You can use my work in any way you want. I thought I was being even freer than GNU. My interest in what others are doing with WORDS is just idle curiosity, nothing serious. A few others have inquired about constructing a "wordlist" for a spellchecker of that type. In the end, nothing came of it since the size of the file becomes enormous. There are 30000 entries in the dictionary now. Each will generate a dozen to a couple of hundred "spelling" words. This may be more than you want to face. I use WORDS directly as a spell checker, in that I run it on a text and then look at the UNKNOWNS. I works very well. It also has the advantage, beyond a wordlist, of constructing words with prefixes, suffixes, tackons (-que, -ne), which effectively increases the dictionary base. If you have a UNIX system, there is most likely a GNAT (GNU) Ada compiler with which you could port WORDS. It has been done for lots of systems and seems to go with no effort or intervention. See http://www.erols.com/whitaker/wordsdev.htm But to return to the question, you have my permission and encouragemant to use the WORDS system and data in any way you want, with or without notification. If you want to generate the large wordlist file, I will be glad to assist. Whitaker Ron Burkey wrote: > > I'm working on a free software project for reformatting text > (http:www.birdsproject.org/NonBirds/GutenMark/index.html), > and have a need for a Latin wordlist. In other words, I need > just a list of words, and not the the definitions, declensions, > conjugations, and software you've provided. > > My DESIRE would be to create a wordlist from your data (which I've > actually already done) to distribute with my program, and then to credit > your work in my documentation (along with a link to your site). As far > as I can tell from what you say on your site, this should be okay with > you. > > However, I'm concerned because my project is licensed under the GNU > General Public License (GPL, http:www.fsf.org). This means that > although my software is freely available to people, it is possible for > someone to legally sell my software without my knowledge. Therefore, > there's no way I can guarantee that you'd be informed of the sale, as > you request on your site. > > Question 1: Is the use of the wordlist derived from your > dictionary, as I've described it, acceptable to you? If not, I'll have > to work out some other source of Latin words for my project. > > Question 2: There is a common free spell-checker program used in > UNIX, called "ispell", which supports many languages but currently > seems to have no Latin wordlist. I've seen a couple of requests out on > the web for Latin support in ispell. If it's acceptable to you, and > if I work up the energy, I might convert the wordlist derived from your > dictionary into an ispell database for free release. Is this > acceptable to you? > > I'm sorry this communication was so lengthy. Thanks very much for your > consideration.