Re: Bug#455772: apt-listchanges: [debconf_rewrite] Debconf templates and debian/control review

[Justin B Rye <jbr@edlug.org.uk>]

Christian Perrier wrote:
> Justin, could you have a look at it?

Sure.

> Template: apt-listchanges/frontend
[...]
> _Description: Method to be used to display changes:
>  Package changes may be displayed by apt-listchanges
>  in various ways.

Yes, I like this.

[...]
>   mail         : only send changes via mail;

(My own suggestion here was to say "only send changes via e-mail",
but I didn't notice that this was dropped in the LCFC.)

[...]
>  This setting can be overridden at execution time. Mail copies of
>  the changes list will also be sent except when choosing 'none'.

This "do X when Y-ing" doesn't work: the choosing is something I do
today, but the sending is something the software does tomorrow.  And
besides, I routinely leave the frontend set to "pager" but disable
mailing. 

I had "All frontends but 'none' can also mail a copy" - would the
version below be more acceptable?

   This setting can be overridden at execution time. By default, all the
   frontends except for 'none' will also send copies by mail.

Or if "frontends" is too technical, we could safely switch it to
"options" here. 

> Template: apt-listchanges/confirm
[...]
>  After displaying the list of changes, apt-listchanges can pause with
>  a confirmation prompt. This is useful when running from APT, as it
>  offers an opportunity to abort the upgrade if a change is unwelcome.

Yes, "can pause" here is an improvement on "may pause".

>  This setting does not apply to the 'mail' or 'none' settings, and can be
>  overridden at execution time.

The LCFC had "the 'mail' or 'none' frontends"; if "frontends" is a
problem we should find a better word to use throughout.  This double
use of the word "setting" strikes me as confusing.  What do people
think of something like:

   This can be overridden at execution time, and has no effect if
   the configured frontend option is 'mail' or 'none'.
-- 
JBR	with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
	sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package