Project goals

DOAP is a project to create an XML/RDF vocabulary to describe open source and other software projects.

Initial goals include:

• Internationalizable description of a software project and its associated resources, including participants and Web resources
• Basic tools to enable the easy creation and consumption of such descriptions
• Interoperability with other popular Web metadata projects (RSS, FOAF, Dublin Core)
• The ability to extend the vocabulary for specialist purposes

Specifically not in scope for the first iteration is the description of software releases. Work on this can be investigated as a follow-up initiative. Additionally, planning data internal to the project such as task assignments or milestones is out of scope. We don't want to go so far as to reinvent Microsoft Project.

Use cases for project descriptions include:

• Easy importing of projects into software directories
• Data exchange between software directories
• Automatic configuration for resources such as shared CVS repositories or bug trackers
• Assisting package maintainers who bundle software for distributors