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Re: Request for review of a package description



Justin B Rye <jbr@edlug.org.uk> writes:

> Ben Finney wrote:
> >> Package: xiphos
> >> Description: environment for Bible reading, study, and research
> >     Xiphos is a Bible study program for the GNOME desktop environment.
> >     It is based on The SWORD Project by the CrossWire Bible Society, a
> >     framework for tools to assist studying the Bible and additional
> >     information like commentaries, dictionaries and other texts.
[…]
> 
> My only complaint with this version is the number of sentences
> beginning with either "Xiphos" or "It".

I think, in a package description, that clear communication should win
over avoiding repetition of the subject.

>  Package: xiphos
>  Description: environment for Bible reading, study, and research
>   Xiphos is a Bible study program for the GNOME desktop environment,
>   based on the CrossWire Bible Society's SWORD Project, a framework
>   for developing tools for study of the Bible and of associated texts
>   such as commentaries and dictionaries.

This is a run-on sentence with several referents, which IMO makes it too
easy to lose the thread. I need to read the above several times to know
when the subject changes. I think shorter, simpler sentences would be
better here.

>   This package provides the main Xiphos program, a digital text
>   reader with bookmarks and full-text search. It allows viewing
>   multiple versions of the same text, for parallel reading of
>   alternatives or translations, and also supports personal
>   verse-specific notes and a rich-text study pad, both of which have
>   spell checking and full-text search.

No complaints here. (Note that “both of which support” is my own
interpretation; re-reading the original, I can see that it might be
untrue. The original poster should make sure the claims haven't become
false through my re-writing.)

-- 
 \      “You've got to think about big things while you're doing small |
  `\              things, so that all the small things go in the right |
_o__)                                       direction.” —Alvin Toffler |
Ben Finney


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