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Re: announcing first release of common database infrastructure package



Quoting sean finney (seanius@debian.org):
> to reply to my own post...
> 
> i was under the impression that because dbconfig-common was previously
> in experimental that i wouldn't have problems related to the stalled
> NEW queue, but i was wrong.
> 
> so.... you can get them here:
> 
> deb http://people.debian.org/~seanius/policy/examples/ ./
> deb-src http://people.debian.org/~seanius/policy/examples/ ./
> 
> you want version 1.4.

Well, IN finally had a look at the debconf templates...


Comments about the templates:

--------------------------------------------------------------
 If no longer have need of the data being stored by ${pkg}, you
 should answer "yes".  If you want to hold this data for another
 time, or if you would rather handle this process manually,
 anwer "no".
--------------------------------------------------------------
(typo detected, btw)

You should avoid making reference to specific user actions such as
"answer yes" for boolean templates. Depending on the interface and
interface translation, the user may be presented with something else
than yes/no choices for boolean templates, such as a check box.

The recommended wording in such case is "If you choose this option,
blah blah" or (for "if you answer no") "If you refuse this option,
blah blah".

--------------------------------------------------------------
_Description: Passwords do not match!
 Sorry, the passwords you supplied do not match.  Please try again!
--------------------------------------------------------------


I usually recommend avoiding exclamation marks as well: "Passwords do
not match!" should be replaced by "Password mismatch". I also tend to
discourage the use of "Sorry" for more factual wording. In general,
anything suggesting that the computer behaves like a person should be
discouraged (the infamous use of first person which some maintainers
enjoy). Neutral and factual wording is the key point.

A few initial capitals are also missing here and there....


Another one:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Template: dbconfig-common/mysql/host
Type: select
Choices: ${hosts}
_Description: What host is running the mysql server for ${pkg}?
 Please select the remote hostname to use, or select "new host" to
 enter a new host.
--------------------------------------------------------------


I usually recommend "opened" prompts for "select" and "string"
templates and leave interrogative form to boolean templates.

_Description: Host name of the MySQL database server:

(MySQL should be spelled that way, IIRC)

_Description: What should be the mysql database name for ${pkg}?
becomes:
_Description: MySQL database name for ${pkg}:

Template: dbconfig-common/mysql/app-pass2
Type: password
_Description: Please re-enter the password
 Please re-enter the password.

-->The long description here is useless. You can safely remove
it....or provide something more explicit. Indeed I would write that
one like this:

Template: dbconfig-common/mysql/app-pass2
Type: password
_Description: Password confirmation:




Last (but not least), a few lines in the templates file end with extra
spaces...these should be removed as they create double spacing inside
sentences.




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