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Re: Last part of the proposed changes to debian-faq



On Saturday 04 June 2016, at 21:45 +0200, Holger Wansing wrote:

Hi!

I incorporated all the proposed corrections and suggestions in this
thread and I attach an updated version of my proposed patch.

I also updated the example of the flow of packages from unstable to
testing to reflect the 5 days waiting period (instead of the old 10 days
period).

Aside the discussed changes I modified one change I made in the
ftparchives.sgml file. In my first version I added the codenames of
jessie and stretch, but I did not notice that the question was: "What
OTHER codenames have been used?". Indeed jessie and stretch were
mentioned in the previous question.

So I now changed that paragraph to:
«<p>Aside <tt>&releasename;</tt> and <tt>&testingreleasename;</tt>, other codenames that have been already used are: <tt>buzz</tt> for
release 1.1, <tt>rex</tt> for release 1.2, <tt>bo</tt> for releases 1.3.x,
<tt>hamm</tt> for release 2.0, <tt>slink</tt> for release 2.1,
<tt>potato</tt> for release 2.2, <tt>woody</tt> for release 3.0,
<tt>sarge</tt> for release 3.1, <tt>etch</tt> for release 4.0,
<tt>lenny</tt> for release 5.0,
<tt>squeeze</tt> for release 6.0, and
<tt>wheezy</tt> for release 7.»

Thanks,

beatrice
Index: basic_defs.sgml
===================================================================
--- basic_defs.sgml	(revisione 11198)
+++ basic_defs.sgml	(copia locale)
@@ -120,8 +120,9 @@
 information about the GNU/Hurd in general, and <url id="http://www.debian.org/ports/hurd/";>
 for more information about Debian GNU/Hurd.
 
-<p>A second effort is the port to a BSD kernel.  People are working with both
-the NetBSD and the FreeBSD kernels.
+<!-- NetBSD efforts have been abandoned https://www.debian.org/ports/netbsd/ -->
+<p>A second effort is the port to a BSD kernel.  People are working with
+  the FreeBSD kernels.
 
 <p>See <url id="http://www.debian.org/ports/#nonlinux";> for more information
 about these non-linux ports.
Index: choosing.sgml
===================================================================
--- choosing.sgml	(revisione 11198)
+++ choosing.sgml	(copia locale)
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@
 in. You can easily switch to the more modern unstable (or testing) once you are a little
 more confident.</p>
 
-<item><p>If you are a desktop user with a lot of experience in the operating system and does not mind
+<item><p>If you are a desktop user with a lot of experience in the
+operating system and do not mind
 facing the odd bug now and then, or even full system breakage, use unstable. It has all the latest and
 greatest software, and bugs are usually fixed swiftly.</p>
 
@@ -62,9 +63,9 @@
 even without subscribing. The archives can be read
 through <url id="http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/";>. Information regarding
 subscribing to the list can be found at the location of archives. You are
-strongly encouraged to post your questions on the mailing-list than on <url
+strongly encouraged to post your questions on the mailing-list rather than on <url
 id="http://www.debian.org/support"; name="irc">.  The mailing-list messages are
-archived, so solution to your problem can
+archived, so the solution to your problem can
 help others with the same issue. </p>
 
 <sect1>Will there be different versions of packages in different distributions? 
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@
 servers which have to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.</p>
 
 <p>On the other hand, packages in testing or unstable can have hidden bugs,
-security holes etc., Moreover, some packages in testing and unstable might not
+security holes etc. Moreover, some packages in testing and unstable might not
 be working as intended. Usually people working on a single desktop prefer
 having the latest and most modern set of packages. Unstable is the solution for
 this group of people.</p>
@@ -109,13 +110,13 @@
 time and if you are real careful and if you know what you are doing,
 then it might be possible to go from unstable to testing and then to
 stable. The installer scripts are not designed to do that. So in the
-process, your configuration files might be lost and.... 
+process, your configuration files might be lost and...
 
 <sect1>Could you tell me whether to install stable, testing or unstable?
 
 <p>No, this is a rather subjective issue. There is no perfect answer
-as it depends on the software needed, the users' needs 
-and the experience of its system administrator. Here are some tips:
+as it depends on your software needs and
+your experience in system administration. Here are some tips:
 </p>
 
 <p><list>
@@ -160,14 +161,14 @@
 
 <p>The bug fixes and improvements introduced in the unstable distribution
 trickle down to testing after a certain number of days. Let's say this
-threshold is 10 days. The packages in unstable go into testing only when there
+threshold is 5 days. The packages in unstable go into testing only when there
 are no RC-bugs reported against them. If there is a RC-bug filed against a
-package in unstable, it will not go into testing after the 10 days.</p>
+package in unstable, it will not go into testing after the 5 days.</p>
 
 <p>The idea is that, if the package has any problems, it would be discovered by
 people using unstable and will be fixed before it enters testing.  This keeps
-the testing in an usable state for most period of the time.  Overall a
-brilliant concept, if you ask me. But things are always not so simple. Consider
+testing in a usable state for most of the time.  Overall a
+brilliant concept, if you ask me. But things aren't always so simple. Consider
 the following situation:</p>
 
 <p><list>
@@ -175,50 +176,50 @@
     <item>Imagine you are interested in package XYZ.
     <item>Let's assume that on June
 10, the version in testing is XYZ-3.6 and in unstable it is XYZ-3.7.
-    <item>After 10 days, XYZ-3.7 from unstable migrates into
+    <item>After 5 days, XYZ-3.7 from unstable migrates into
 testing.
-    <item>So on June 20, both testing and unstable have
+    <item>So on June 15, both testing and unstable have
 XYZ-3.7 in their repositories.
     <item>Let's say, the user of testing distribution sees
 that a new XYZ package is available and updates his XYZ-3.6 to XYZ-3.7.
-    <item>Now on June 25, someone
+    <item>Now on June 24, someone
 using testing or unstable discovers an RC bug in XYZ-3.7 and files it
 in the BTS.
     <item>The maintainer of XYZ fixes this bug and uploads it
-to unstable say on June 30. Here it is assumed that it takes 5 days
+to unstable say on June 29. Here it is assumed that it takes 5 days
 for the maintainer to fix the bug and upload the new version. The
 number 5 should not be taken literally. It could be less or more,
 depending upon the severity of the RC-bug at hand.
     <item>This new version in unstable, XYZ-3.8 is scheduled
-to enter testing on July 10th.
-    <item>But on July 5th some other
+to enter testing on July 4th.
+    <item>But on July 3rd some other
 person discovers another RC-bug in XYZ-3.8.
     <item>Let's say the maintainer of XYZ fixes this new
 RC-bug and uploads new version of XYZ after 5 days.
-    <item>So on July 10, testing has XYZ-3.7 while unstable
+    <item>So on July 8th, testing has XYZ-3.7 while unstable
 has XYZ-3.9.
     <item>This new version XYZ-3.9 is now rescheduled to
-enter testing on July 20th.
+enter testing on July 13th.
     <item>Now since you are running
 testing, and since XYZ-3.7 is buggy, you could probably use XYZ only
-after July 20th. That is you essentially ended up with a broken XYZ for
+after July 13th. That is you essentially ended up with a broken XYZ for
 about one month.
 
 </list>
 
 <p>The situation can get much more complicated, if say, XYZ depends on 4 other
-packages. This could in turn lead to unusable testing distribution for months.
-The above scenario which is artificially created by me, can occur in the real
-life. But such occurrences are rare.
+packages. This could in turn lead to an unusable testing distribution for months.
+While the scenario above is immaginary, similar things can occur in real
+life, though they are rare.
 
 <sect1>From an administrator's point of view, which distribution
 requires more attention?
 
-<p>One of the main reasons many people chose Debian over other Linux distributions is
+<p>One of the main reasons why many people choose Debian over other Linux distributions is
 that it requires very little administration. People want a system that just works.
-In general one can say, that stable requires very little maintenance, while
+In general one can say that stable requires very little maintenance, while
 testing and unstable require constant maintenance from the administrator. If you are
-running stable, all you need to worry about is, keeping track of security
+running stable, all you need to worry about is keeping track of security
 updates. If you are running either testing or unstable it is a good idea to be
 aware of the new bugs discovered in the installed packages, new
 bugfixes/features introduced
@@ -238,8 +239,8 @@
 sooner or later you will face this question.
 
 <p>The stable distribution is currently &releasename;; The next stable
-distribution will be called as &testingreleasename;. Let's consider the
-particular case as to what happens when &testingreleasename; is released as the new stable
+distribution will be called &testingreleasename;. Let's consider the
+particular case of what happens when &testingreleasename; is released as the new stable
 version.</p>
 
 <p><list>
@@ -253,7 +254,7 @@
     <item>After some time testing becomes frozen. But it will still be called
     testing. At this point no new packages from unstable can migrate to testing
     unless they include release-critical (RC) bug fixes.
-    <item>When testing is frozen, all the new bugfixes introduced, have to be
+    <item>When testing is frozen, all the new bugfixes introduced have to be
     manually checked by the members of the release team. This is done to ensure
     that there won't be any unknown severe problems in the frozen
     testing.
@@ -261,7 +262,7 @@
     greater than zero, the bugs are either marked as ignored for the release or
     are deferred for a point release.
     <item>The 'frozen testing' with no rc-bugs will be released as the new
-    stable version. In our example, this new stable release will be called as
+    stable version. In our example, this new stable release will be called
     &testingreleasename;.
     <item>At this stage oldstable = &releasename;, stable = &testingreleasename;. The contents of
 stable and 'frozen testing' are same at this point.
@@ -304,7 +305,7 @@
 systems might run a mixture of distributions.
 
 <sect1>I am currently tracking stable. Can I change to testing or
-unstable? If so, How?
+unstable? If so, how?
 
 <p>If you are currently running stable, then in the <file>
 /etc/apt/sources.list</file> file the third field will be either '&releasename;' or
@@ -369,9 +370,9 @@
 
 <sect1>I am still confused. What did you say I should install?
 
-<p>If unsure, the best bet would be stable distribution.</p>
+<p>If unsure, the best bet would be the stable distribution.</p>
 
-<sect>But what about Knoppix, Linex, Ubuntu, and others?
+<sect>But what about Knoppix, Linux Mint Debian Edition, Ubuntu, and others?
 
 <p>They are not Debian; they are <em>Debian based</em>. Though there are
 many similarities and commonalities between them, there are also
@@ -383,7 +384,7 @@
 distributions based on Debian"> available at the Debian website.
 
 
-<sect1>I know that Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... is Debian-based. So after installing it on the hard disk, can I use 'apt' package tools on it?
+<sect1>I know that Knoppix/Linux Mint Debian Edition/Ubuntu/... is Debian-based. So after installing it on the hard disk, can I use 'apt' package tools on it?
 
 <p>These distributions are Debian based. But they are not Debian. You will be
 still able to use apt package tools by pointing the
@@ -398,10 +399,10 @@
 they use the same formatting and name (.deb), does not make them immediately
 compatible.
 
-<p>For example, Knoppix is a Linux distribution designed to be booted as a live CD where as
-Debian is designed to be installed on hard-disk. Knoppix is great if you want
-to know whether a particular hardware works, or if you want to experience how a
-linux system 'feels' etc., Knoppix is good for demonstration purposes while
+<p>For example, Knoppix is a Linux distribution designed to be booted as a live CD whereas
+Debian is designed to be installed on the hard-disk. Knoppix is great if you want
+to know whether a particular piece of hardware works, or if you want to experience how a
+GNU/Linux system 'feels' etc., Knoppix is good for demonstration purposes while
 Debian is designed to run 24/7.  Moreover the number of packages available, the
 number of architectures supported by Debian are far more than that of
 Knoppix.</p>
@@ -412,11 +413,11 @@
 that you are new to both Debian and Knoppix. In that case, save yourself a lot
 of trouble later and install Debian right at the beginning.</p>
 
-<sect1>I installed Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... on my hard disk. Now I have a
+<sect1>I installed Knoppix/Linux Mint Debian Edition/Ubuntu/... on my hard disk. Now I have a
 problem.  What should I do? 
 
 <p>You are advised not to use the Debian forums (either mailing lists or IRC)
-for help as people might advice you thinking that you are running a Debian
+for help as people might advise you thinking that you are running a Debian
 system and the "fixes" they provide might not be suited to what you are
 running. They might even worsen the problem you are facing.
 
@@ -425,7 +426,7 @@
 try asking in Debian forums, but keep the advice of the previous paragraph in
 mind.
 
-<sect1>I'm using Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... and now I want to use Debian. How do I migrate?
+<sect1>I'm using Knoppix/LMDE/Ubuntu/... and now I want to use Debian. How do I migrate?
 
 <p>Consider the change from a Debian-based distribution to Debian just like a
 change from one operating system to another one. You should make a backup of
Index: compat.sgml
===================================================================
--- compat.sgml	(revisione 11198)
+++ compat.sgml	(copia locale)
@@ -47,11 +47,12 @@
 </list>
 
 <p>The development of binary distributions of Debian for 
-<em/armhf/ (for ARM boards and devices with a floating-point unit),
-<em/arv32/ (for Atmel's 32-bit RISC architecture),
-<em/m32/ (for 32-bit RISC microprocessor of Renesas Technology),
-<em/s390x/ (for the 64-bit userland for IBM System z mainframes), and
-<em/sh/ (for Hitachi SuperH processors)
+<em/hurd-i386/ (for GNU Hurd kernel on i386 32-bit PCs),
+<em/mipsel64/ (for 64 bit MIPS in little-endian mode),
+<em/powerpcspe/ (port for the "Signal Processing Engine" hardware),
+<em/sparc64/ (for 64 bit SPARC processors),
+<em/sh/ (for Hitachi SuperH processors), and
+<em/x32/ (for amd64/x86_64 CPUs using 32-bit pointers)
 is currently underway.
 
 <p>Support for the <em/m68k/ architecture was dropped in the Etch (Debian 4.0) release, because
@@ -67,6 +68,12 @@
 <em/arm/ was dropped too in this release, as it was superseded by 
 the <em/armel/ architecture.
 
+<!-- info from Jessie Release Notes -->
+<p>Support for the 32-bit <em/s390/ port (s390) was discontinued and replaced
+with s390x in Jessie (Debian 8). In addition, the ports to IA-64 and
+Sparc had to be removed from this release due to insufficient developer
+support.
+
 <p>For more information on the available ports see the
 <url id="http://www.debian.org/ports/"; name="ports pages at the website">.
 
@@ -77,8 +84,8 @@
 
 <sect id="kernels">What kernels does &debian; run?
 
-<p>Debian provides a complete, binary distribution for the following operating
-system kernels:
+<p>Beside Linux, Debian provides a complete, binary distribution for the
+ following operating system kernels:
 
 <list>
 
@@ -85,7 +92,7 @@
 <item>FreeBSD: provided through the <em/kfreebsd-amd64/ and
 <em/kfreebsd-i386/ ports, for 64-bit PCs and 32-bit PCs respectively.  These
 ports were first released in Debian 6.0 Squeeze as a <em/technology preview/.
-
+However they were not part of the Debian 8.0 Jessie release.
 </list>
 
 
Index: contrib.sgml
===================================================================
--- contrib.sgml	(revisione 11198)
+++ contrib.sgml	(copia locale)
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@
 can help the project.  See also
 <url name="How can you help Debian?" id="&debian-help;">.
 
-<sect id="contrib">How can I become a Debian software developer?
+<sect id="contrib">How can I become a Debian developer?
 
 <p>The development of Debian is open to all, and new users with the right
 skills and/or the willingness to learn are needed to maintain existing
 packages which have been "orphaned" by their previous maintainers, to
-develop new packages, and to provide user support.
+develop new packages, to write documentation, to do translation work, to
+help with the Debian website, to provide user support, etc.
 
 <p>The description of becoming a Debian Developer can be found at the
 <url name="New Member's Corner" id="http://www.debian.org/devel/join/newmaint";>
@@ -71,10 +72,11 @@
 
 <p>There are a number of organizations created in different countries that hold
 assets in trust for Debian. The <url id="http://www.debian.org/donations";
-name="donations page"> lists the trusted organisations individuals can donate
-to. At the time of this writing there are two of them: <url
-id="http://www.ffis.de/"; name="Verein zur Förderung Freier Informationen & Software"> (in Germany) and
-the <url id="https://france.debian.net/"; name="Debian France Association"> (in France).
-Additional affiliate organisations in other countries are listed in <url id="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Auditor/Organizations"; name="Organizations"> page in the Debian Wiki.
+name="donations page"> lists the trusted organizations individuals can donate
+to. At the time of this writing there are three of them: <url
+id="http://www.ffis.de/"; name="Verein zur Förderung Freier Informationen & Software"> (in Germany),
+the <url id="https://france.debian.net/"; name="Debian France Association"> (in
+France), and <url id="http://debian.ch/"; name="debian.ch"> (Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein).
+Additional affiliate organizations in other countries are listed in <url id="https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Auditor/Organizations"; name="Organizations"> page in the Debian Wiki.
 
 
Index: debian-faq.sgml
===================================================================
--- debian-faq.sgml	(revisione 11198)
+++ debian-faq.sgml	(copia locale)
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
   <copyright>
   <copyrightsummary>
-  Copyright &copy; 1996-2013 by Software in the Public Interest,
+  Copyright &copy; 1996-2016 by Software in the Public Interest,
   portions copyright &copy; 2004, 2005, 2006 Kamaraju Kusumanchi
   </copyrightsummary>
 
Index: ftparchives.sgml
===================================================================
--- ftparchives.sgml	(revisione 11198)
+++ ftparchives.sgml	(copia locale)
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 <p>Experimental is used for packages which are still being developed, and with
 a high risk of breaking your system.  It's used by developers who'd like to
 study and test bleeding edge software.  Users shouldn't be using packages from
-here, because they can be dangerous and harmful even for the most experienced
+there, because they can be dangerous and harmful even for the most experienced
 people.
 
 <p>See <ref id="choosing"> for help when choosing a Debian distribution.
@@ -38,15 +38,16 @@
 
 <sect1 id="oldcodenames">Which other codenames have been used in the past?
 
-<p>Other codenames that have been already used are: <tt>buzz</tt> for
+<p>Aside <tt>&releasename;</tt> and <tt>&testingreleasename;</tt>, other codenames that have been already used are: <tt>buzz</tt> for
 release 1.1, <tt>rex</tt> for release 1.2, <tt>bo</tt> for releases 1.3.x,
 <tt>hamm</tt> for release 2.0, <tt>slink</tt> for release 2.1,
 <tt>potato</tt> for release 2.2, <tt>woody</tt> for release 3.0,
-<tt>sarge</tt> for release 3.1, <tt>etch</tt> for release 4.0, and
-<tt>lenny</tt> for release 5.0, and
-<tt>squeeze</tt> for release 6.0,
-<tt>wheezy</tt> for release 7.0.
+<tt>sarge</tt> for release 3.1, <tt>etch</tt> for release 4.0,
+<tt>lenny</tt> for release 5.0,
+<tt>squeeze</tt> for release 6.0, and
+<tt>wheezy</tt> for release 7.
 
+
 <sect1 id="sourceforcodenames">Where do these codenames come from?
 
 <p>So far they have been characters taken from the "Toy Story" movies by Pixar.
@@ -232,8 +233,8 @@
 undergone some degree of testing in <qref id="unstable">unstable</qref>.
 
 <p>They must be in sync on all architectures where they have been built and
-mustn't have dependencies that make them uninstallable; they also have to
-have fewer release-critical bugs than the versions currently in testing.
+mustn't have dependencies that make them uninstallable; they must also have
+fewer release-critical bugs than the versions currently in unstable.
 This way, we hope that `testing' is always close to being a release
 candidate.
 
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@
 
 <p>When the "testing" distribution is mature enough, the release manager
 starts `freezing' it. The normal propagation delays are increased to ensure
-that as little as possible new bugs from "unstable" enter "testing".
+that as few new bugs as possible from "unstable" enter "testing".
 
 <p>After a while, the "testing" distribution becomes truly `frozen'. This
 means that all new packages that are to propagate to the "testing" are held

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