Re: Bug#215582: move short descriptions to the bottom in the dialog frontend
(for french translators : cdebconf is the debconf flavour which is
used in debian-installer)
Quoting Joey Hess (joeyh@debian.org):
> cdebconf currently displays the short description from a template near
> the top of the dialog box, in a special color. This is unlike debconf,
> which puts the short description at the bottom of the dialo box, just
> above the widget that the user can use to answer the question. I think
> that debconf's behavior is better, because it encurages useful short
> descriptions that can serve as prompts, and can be read in leu of
> reading the whole long descrioption, to get the gist of the question if
> the user is in a hurry.
We indeed had talks among french translators about this.
The current cdebconf behaviour make short descriptions more or less
look like a "title".
On the other hand, we now translate "normal" debconf short description
as they should be : short, autonomous, descriptions of the
question. This most often is the definition of a "prompt".
This is why I recently suggested the netcfg translator to translate
"IP Address?" to "Adresse IP". IMHO, the question mark looked strange
in the cdebconf template because this string was shown like a "title"
of the dialog box.
If you implement this proposal, having short descriptions behave like
they should be (prompts except for notes) will be easier to argument
with package maintainers and translators.
For all these reasons, I second this proposal. If it is to be
implemented, please do this ASAP.....so that maintainers and
translators may adapt their descriptions and translations.
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