Bug#820733: Guidelines for sensible package synopsis (was: Bug#820733: RFS: Series/1.0 [ITP] -- Keep track of your favourite TV series)

[Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>]

Tiago Ilieve <tiago.myhro@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi Sartore,
>
> On 11 April 2016 at 16:36, Sartore Giorgio (Mani) <mani.ddev@gmail.com> wrote:
> > series - keep track of your favourite TV series
>
> […] I would like to ask you to close this bug and open a new one when
> the package is more mature and have a few more users.

When starting that Debian package, please follow the guidelines for the
package description.

For example:

    frobnicator of grellicules

The test to apply is detailed in the Developer's Reference §6.2.2:

    Technically this is a noun phrase minus articles, as opposed to a
    verb phrase. A good heuristic is that it should be possible to
    substitute the package name and synopsis into this formula:

        The package ‘name’ provides {a,an,the,some} synopsis.

So, the synopsis “keep track of your favourite TV series” makes that
sentence:

    The package ‘series’ provides a keep track of your favourite TV series.

This doesn't make sense, and so the synopsis should be re-written to be
a noun phrase.

-- 
 \       “It is a part of probability that many improbable things will |
  `\                       happen.” —Aristotle, _Poetics XXV_, 335 BCE |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>