I think you'll find that OSD has died the death.  Have you managed
to find a copy of the DTD?

You're probably better off with a more general metadata framework such as
METS or RDF.  There were some efforts at using RDF to describe RPM
packages for GNU/Linux software but these are no longer maintained.  Some
of the efforts that were going on 1997-2000 felt that they were superceded
by improved package management tools in various GNU/Linux distributions
and by sites like Sourceforge and Freshmeat.

Chris Gray
Library Systems
University of Waterloo

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007, Sharon Foster wrote:

> Please forgive the cross-posting.
>
> For my final project in the class Digital Libraries, I am bringing
> together a "bibliography" ("appliography"?) of open source software
> applications and free web services that would be useful in the
> construction of digital libraries. (How self-referential can you get?
> ;-)) I am looking for advice on finding, selecting, and using an
> existing XML schema that would include syntax for the type of
> application, target platforms, OSs, licensing, etc.
>
> In searching Ask.com and Google, I zeroed in on OSD, the Open Software
> Description Format, but I'm not finding a lot of new material about
> it, and I can't recall ever reading about it. Is this in fact the
> latest and greatest? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Sharon
>
> --
> Sharon M. Foster, B.S., J.D., 0.5 * (MLS)
> F/OSS Evangelist
> Cheshire Public Library
> 104 Main Street
> Cheshire, CT  06410
> http://www.cheshirelibrary.org
> My library school portfolio: http://home.southernct.edu/~fosters4/
>
> Any opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
>