================
 What is Horde?
================

:Contact: horde@lists.horde.org

.. contents:: Contents
.. section-numbering::

The Horde Project is a group of developers who write web applications using
the Horde Application Framework, itself a product of the project.

The Horde Application Framework is a flexible, modular, general-purpose web
application framework written in PHP. It provides an extensive array of
components that are targeted at the common problems and tasks involved in
developing modern web applications: libraries for dealing with preferences,
compression, browser detection, connection tracking, MIME, and more.

The Horde Framework, by itself, does not provide any significant end user
functionality; it provides a base for other applications and tools for
developers. You will probably want to install some of the available Horde
applications, such as IMP (a webmail client), or Kronolith (a calendar). There
is a list of Horde applications and projects at http://www.horde.org/apps.

This software is OSI Certified Open Source Software. OSI Certified is a
certification mark of the `Open Source Initiative`_.

.. _`Open Source Initiative`: http://www.opensource.org/


Obtaining Horde
===============

Further information on Horde and the latest version can be obtained at

  http://www.horde.org/apps/horde

Information on applications that use the Horde framework can be found at

  http://www.horde.org/apps


Documentation
=============

The following documentation is available in the Horde distribution:

:README_:                   This file
:COPYING_:                  Copyright and license information
:`docs/CHANGES`_:           Changes by release
:`docs/CODING_STANDARDS`_:  Coding standards for Horde projects
:`docs/CONTRIBUTING`_:      How to contribute to Horde
:`docs/CREDITS`_:           Project developers
:`docs/INSTALL`_:           Installation instructions and notes
:`docs/PERFORMANCE`_:       Performance guide
:`docs/RELEASE`_:           Release process notes
:`docs/SECURITY`_:          Security notes
:`docs/UPGRADING`_:         Pointers on upgrading from previous Horde versions


Installation
============

Instructions for installing Horde can be found in the file INSTALL_ in the
``docs/`` directory of the Horde distribution.


Assistance
==========

If you encounter problems with Horde, help is available!

The Horde Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ), available on the Web at

  http://wiki.horde.org/FAQ

Horde LLC runs a number of mailing lists, for individual applications
and for issues relating to the project as a whole. Information, archives, and
subscription information can be found at

  http://www.horde.org/community/mail

Lastly, Horde developers, contributors and users also make occasional
appearances on IRC, on the channel #horde on the Freenode Network
(irc.freenode.net).


Licensing
=========

For licensing and copyright information, please see the file COPYING_ in the
Horde distribution.

Thanks,

The Horde team


.. _README: README
.. _COPYING: http://www.horde.org/licenses/lgpl
.. _docs/CHANGES: CHANGES
.. _docs/CODING_STANDARDS: CODING_STANDARDS
.. _docs/CONTRIBUTING: CONTRIBUTING
.. _docs/CREDITS: CREDITS
.. _INSTALL:
.. _docs/INSTALL: INSTALL
.. _docs/PERFORMANCE: PERFORMANCE
.. _docs/RELEASE: RELEASE
.. _docs/SECURITY: SECURITY
.. _docs/UPGRADING: UPGRADING