Re: Done

[Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>]

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 20:43:55 -0400, Matt Zimmerman <mdz@debian.org> said: 

> On Wed, Sep 10, 2003 at 06:41:26PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
>> There are far many more packages where I can tellthe description is
>> inadequate (since I do not know what they are going to do, or why
>> to install them), for which I can't provide a patch, because --
>> guess what, I don't know what they do.

> It only takes a minute to took at the package and write a
> description, and requires no special tools or skills.  This is one
> situation where no one can make excuses about not being a
> programmer.

	Really? I'll bite.
======================================================================
Package: pike7.2-gz
Description: Gz module for Pike
 This Pike module provides access to zlib compression functions.
======================================================================


	I can find out what pike is. I can even do better than
  "Gz module for Pike".  But I can't tell if this is an add-on, an
  alternative to native compression in pike or not. I can't tell off
  hand if there are alternatives. I can't tell, for example, if there
  are related modules -- without a whole lot of research, to ensure I
  did not miss something which is part of another package.


	Take a hypothetical one:

Package: mailagent
Description: mail-processing tool
 Mailagent allows you to process your mail automatically.

	I bet ya it would take more than a minute to take this package
 down, find out what all it can do, and write up a description. And
 multiply that with hundreds of packages with inadequate
 descriptions, no wonder nothing ever gets done about it -- until
 now. 

	manoj
-- 
Human kind cannot bear very much reality. T.S. Eliot, "Four Quartets:
Burnt Norton"
Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta@debian.org>  <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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