Hi David and Justin, thanks a million for your valuable input! On 14/07/14 15:26, Justin B Rye wrote: > David Prévot wrote: >> I’m no native English, but believe using singular they would be more I took your advice and used the plural "they" for "users" in the patch attached here. > case above the "safe" option to cause the least annoyance to readers > might be: > > specified by the Debian developer (or individual users if they choose > to build the package themselves). This number corresponds to the revision > > or maybe > > specified by the Debian developer (or a user who chooses to rebuild > the package locally). This number corresponds to the revision I did apply your latter suggestion in the patch attached here. > > The text could also do with some general proofreading, but I'm not > sure if the version I get from "apt-get source" is up-to-date. For > instance, there's a use of "he" in kernel.sgml, but it occurs in a > sentence about /usr/sbin/modconf, which hasn't existed since Squeeze! > The sources I'm using come from svn://svn.debian.org/svn/ddp/manuals/trunk/debian-faq/ and the kernel.sgml that I have does not contain any instance of 'he'. It is dated 3rd of April 2008: is yours an older version? Thanks a million! Myriam
Index: pkg_basics.sgml
===================================================================
--- pkg_basics.sgml (revision 10421)
+++ pkg_basics.sgml (working copy)
@@ -87,8 +87,7 @@
number may have formats as different as "19990513" and "1.3.8pre1".
<p>The <tt>RRR</tt> component is the Debian revision number, and is
-specified by the Debian developer (or an individual user if he chooses
-to build the package himself). This number corresponds to the revision
+specified by the Debian developer (or a user who chooses to rebuild the package locally). This number corresponds to the revision
level of the Debian package, thus, a new revision level usually signifies
changes in the Debian Makefile (<tt>debian/rules</tt>), the Debian control
file (<tt>debian/control</tt>), the installation or removal scripts
@@ -195,7 +194,7 @@
<item>This script typically completes any required configuration of the
package <tt>foo</tt> once <tt>foo</tt> has been unpacked from its Debian
archive (".deb") file. Often, 'postinst' scripts ask the user for input,
- and/or warn the user that if he accepts default values, he should remember
+ and/or warn the users that if they accepted default values, they should remember
to go back and re-configure that package as the situation warrants.
Many 'postinst' scripts then execute any commands necessary to start or
restart a service once a new package has been installed or upgraded.
@@ -365,14 +364,14 @@
<p>Their meanings are:
<list>
- <item>unknown - the user has never indicated whether he wants the package
- <item>install - the user wants the package installed or upgraded
- <item>remove - the user wants the package removed, but does not want to
+ <item>unknown - users have never indicated whether they want the package
+ <item>install - users want the package installed or upgraded
+ <item>remove - users want the package removed, but do not want to
remove any existing configuration files.
- <item>purge - the user wants the package to be removed completely,
+ <item>purge - users want the package to be removed completely,
including its configuration files.
- <item>hold - the user wants this package not to be processed, i.e., he
- wants to keep the current version with the current status whatever that is.
+ <item>hold - users want this package not to be processed, i.e., they
+ want to keep the current version with the current status whatever that is.
</list>
<sect id="puttingonhold">How do I put a package on hold?
Index: pkgtools.sgml
===================================================================
--- pkgtools.sgml (revision 10421)
+++ pkgtools.sgml (working copy)
@@ -239,15 +239,15 @@
<p><prgn/dselect/ can:
<list>
- <item>guide the user as he/she chooses among packages to install or remove,
+ <item>guide the users as they choose among packages to install or remove,
ensuring that no packages are installed that conflict with one another,
and that all packages required to make each package work properly are
installed;
- <item>warn the user about inconsistencies or incompatibilities in their
+ <item>warn the users about inconsistencies or incompatibilities in their
selections;
<item>determine the order in which the packages must be installed;
<item>automatically perform the installation or removal; and
- <item>guide the user through whatever configuration process are required
+ <item>guide the users through whatever configuration process are required
for each package.
</list>
@@ -256,9 +256,9 @@
by using the arrow keys to move the highlighter bar, then pressing the
<em><enter></em> key to select the highlighted action.
-<p>What the user sees next depends on the action he selected. If he selects
+<p>What the users see next depends on the action they selected. If they select
any option but <tt>Access</tt> or <tt>Select</tt>, then <prgn/dselect/
-will simply proceed to execute the specified action: e.g., if the user
+will simply proceed to execute the specified action: e.g., if a user
selected the action <tt>Remove</tt>, then dselect would proceed to remove
all of the files selected for removal when the user last chose the
<tt>Select</tt> action.
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@
<item><strong/Select/ specific packages for installation on his system.
After choosing this menu item, the user is first presented with a full
screen of help (unless the `--expert' command line option was used).
- Once the user exits the Help screen, he sees the split-screen menu for
+ Once exiting the Help screen, a user sees the split-screen menu for
choosing packages to install (or remove).
<p>The top part of the screen is a relatively narrow window into the
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