Manuel de Codage Texts for JSesh (and other projects)

Currently, JSesh includes a relatively large number of Manuel de codage texts. They can be found in JSesh distributions, but there are a number of problems :

• the "life cycle" of texts is not the same as the one of the software itself. It would be very convenient to be able to give access to new texts without creating a new JSesh distribution for that purpose ;
• the texts lack "web" visibility; I guess some JSesh users don't even know they are available. A standalone archive will probably also attract more people, included people submitting new texts ;
• the licenses for the texts are not very clear. I'd like JSesh code to be at some point 100% under a solid free-software license (the CECILL license, which is LGLP compatible), and hence, the idea is to externalise parts of JSesh which have a different license.

Licenses

Regarding the Licenses for the texts in this archive, when a clear license is available, it will be included in the text itself.

Licenses for new texts

I strongly suggest that you distribute your texts under one of the following licenses :

Creative Commons Licenses

A number of points should be made :

• it's better if you don't forbid modifications of your text (avoid the ND versions), in particular because any text can contain errors. Conversely, if you fix errors in a text, or if a text is a collaborative work, a small description of the changes made, with the name of the modification author, would be a good idea.
• you can forbid commercial use of the work (NC), but it might have unsuspected implications (use in a museum interactive display, if there is an entrance fee ?) ;
• The "Share Alike" restriction (SA) is interesting : it prevents "closed sources" derivatives of the text to be made ; however, it can be problematic in some cases

See the Description of the licenses.

The following licenses are suggested (with a preference for CC BY)

• CC0 : basically, public domain, no authorship claimed, anything can be done with your text ;
• CC BY : most versatile, anything can be done with your text, but authorship should be kept (and possible modifications should be recorded) ;
• CC BY-SA : as for the previous, original authorship should be acknowledged, but the document must be shared under the same rules, which means for instance that derivative works must also be opened ;

Proofreading

Typing a hieroglyphic text is not always an easy task. If your source is a photograph, some signs may be difficult to read, needing collation from other sources or the original itself; editions can be faulty, etc. And the encoder may (or will) make mistakes. I remember that the entry for Cairo JE 60539 (stela of year 400) missed a whole line!

I have decided to organise the library a little better:

• texts I receive will go in the proofreading folder, in order to be checked;
• after a first check, texts will go in the text folder;
• when a very thorough check is performed on a text, it will be written in the text body itself. The best way to perform such check is when actually working on the text.

Postface

I'd like to thank, in particular, Patricia Cassonnet for all the Late Egyptian Texts.