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Subject: Re: Debian Weekly News - December 12th, 2001
References: <20011212213113.GH16072@finlandia.infodrom.north.de>
Bcc: bob@bobhilliard.net
From: Bob Hilliard <hilliard@debian.org>
Date: 12 Dec 2001 17:28:27 -0500
In-Reply-To: Martin Schulze's message of Wed, 12 Dec 2001 22:31:13 +0100
Message-ID: <87n10ovzsk.fsf@bobspc.bobhilliard.net>
Lines: 52
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> Too Many Acronyms? The Debian mailing lists are rife with Linux gurus
> and newbies alike. When a newbie wanders into a discussion the acronym
> and jargon ratio is usually more than they can bear. Mark Bucciarelli
> [9]brought this up on the Debian Java list, but it's a problem on
> other lists as well. Even competent computer users get confused
> because many acronyms are Debian-specific. (Like NMU, ITP, BTS,
> etc...) Naturally a technical community like the Debian crowd isn't
> going to stop using jargon and acronyms -- nor should they, they're
> more efficient and that's why they're used in the first place. Perhaps
> it's time for a Debian Glossary project, though? I (Zonker) am
> throwing the idea out there to see if people are interested. If so,
> I'll set up an alias for folks willing to work on such a project. I
> (Joey) am already maintaining such a [10]list, contributions are
> welcome, of course.
Joey Hess began compiling a Debian Dictionary several years ago,
and I offered to package it formatted for the Dict protocol. After
discussion, he and I decided it was too small to warrant a separate
package, and would be best combined with the FOLDOC (Free On-line
Dictionary of Computing).
I have submitted many Debian-specific terms and acronyms to the
editor of the FOLDOC, and Debian-specific acronyms to the editor of
V.E.R.A. Most of these have been incorporated in the upstream
packages, and I include the others in the debian packages pending
their incorporation upstream.
Most of these Debian-specific terms and definitions have been
submitted to me by Debian users and developers, and I am always happy
to receive more.
For the benefit of those new to Debian:
apt-get install dict dictd - provides the infrastructure to access
these dictionaries.
apt-get install dict-foldoc dict-vera dict-jargon - provides computer
related dictionaries that include many Debian-specific
terms as well as general computer-related terms.
apt-cache show dictd - The package description lists the other
dictionaries packaged for Debian.
Bob
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