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doc: update README.md (#231)
Improve the README a little bit and add an example
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README.md

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<div align="center">
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<i>
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A metadata description standard for public software that is easy to use both for
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developers and people with less technical background in order to make the
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software developed by Public Administrations and Public Organisations easily discoverable.
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A metadata standard to describe software made by or for Public administrations, making it discoverable
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and understandable for both developers and non-technical users.
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</div>
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<div align="center">
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<h3>
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<a href="https://yml.publiccode.tools">Website</a>
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<span> | </span>
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<a href="governance/charter.md">Charter</a>
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<span> | </span>
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<a href="governance/procedure-proposing-changes-and-voting.md">
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</h3>
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</div>
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## What `publiccode.yml` is for
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Many great software projects are developed by public administrations, however
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reuse of these projects is very limited. Some of the reasons for low uptake of
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such projects is a lack of discoverability and that it is hard to find out what
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project can actually work in the context of a different public administration.
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The `publiccode.yml` file is meant to solve all those problems. It is
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an easily readable file for civil servants that are trying to figure out
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whether a project will work for them, and easily readable by computers as
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well. It contains information such as:
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* the title and description of the project in English and/or other
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languages;
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* the development status, e.g. `concept`, `development`, `beta`, `stable`,
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`obsolete`;
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* which organisation developed the project;
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* who is caring for the maintenance and when this expires;
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* who to contact for technical or support inquiries;
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* what national and local legal frameworks the project is designed
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for;
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* what software dependencies the project has.
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The `publiccode.yml` file format should both be able to easily be added to any
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new project, as well as grow with the project as it expands beyond the original
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context it was developed in.
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## What is `publiccode.yml`
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Public Administrations often create valuable software, but reuse is often limited due to
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poor discoverability or difficulty understanding if a project fits another administration's context.
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`publiccode.yml` solves this by providing a **human-readable and machine-readable metadata file**.
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It answers the questions:
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- What does this project do? (name, description, languages)
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- What is its status? (`concept`, `development`, `beta`, `stable`, `obsolete`)
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- Who maintains it and until when?
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- Who to contact for technical/support inquiries?
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- What legal frameworks is it designed for?
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- What are its dependencies?
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It is designed to be **easy to add to any new project** and to **grow as the project evolves**.
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## Example
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A minimal `publiccode.yml` file:
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```yaml
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publiccodeYmlVersion: "0"
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name: My text editor
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url: "https://example.com/mysoftware/text-editor.git"
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platforms:
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- windows
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categories:
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- office
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developmentStatus: development
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softwareType: "standalone/desktop"
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description:
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en:
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shortDescription: A lightweight text editor
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longDescription: >
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A lightweight yet powerful text editor designed for everyday use by developers,
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writers, and public administrations. It also supports syntax highlighting.
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features:
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- Syntax highlighting
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- Collaborative editing features
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- Scripting interface
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legal:
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license: AGPL-3.0-or-later
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maintenance:
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type: "community"
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contacts:
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- name: Margaret Hamilton
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localisation:
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localisationReady: true
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availableLanguages:
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- en
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- de
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- fr
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```
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[**See all available fields...**](https://yml.publiccode.tools/)
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## Finding projects
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This project follows the Semantic Versioning. For more information see
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[SemVer.org](https://semver.org/).
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Furthermore, the project uses branches and tags in the following way:
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* The `main` branch contains the improvements coming up in the next version.
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* [Release page](https://github.com/publiccodeyml/publiccode.yml/releases)
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contains all the released versions of the standard. Releases are tagged
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with the Standard's version.
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## Contributing
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Feel free to submit [Pull Requests and to file Issues](CONTRIBUTING.md).

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