Bug#108416: Format of short description should be mandated
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I prefer the guidelines that Branden suggests
(though the short descriptions of my packages
don't precisely follow them now. I'll consider
to update them when I'll upload next time.)
In <listgate20010812012005$5fb1@attila.bofh.it>,
on Sun, 12 Aug 2001 03:20:05 +0200,
on Bug#108416: Format of short description should be mandated,
Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> wrote:
> Here are some suggestions to get the ball rolling:
>
> A package's short description should:
> * fit on an 80-character line within the control file (so that the
> package name and description together take up less than 80
> characters)
> * typically be written in a form that completes the following sentence:
> "<foo> is a package which provides (a/an)..."
> * expand acronyms that were coined for the purpose of naming the
> package, if there is room and it is informative
> * not attempt to explain or describe things to the user that he or she
> would most likely already know if he or she wanted to install it
> (For instance, most people who care anything about python or perl
> packages know that these are scripting languages; it is not necessary
> to reiterate that fact.)
>
> A package's short description should not:
> 1. repeat the package name; package system front ends will not present
> short descriptions in the absence of their corresponding package
> names
> 2. refer to the names of any other software packages, protocl names,
> standards, or specifications in their canonical forms (if one
> exists)
> (e.g.,
> + "X Window System", "X11", or "X"; not "X Windows", "X-Windows", or
> -- most hideous of all -- "X Window"
> + "GTK+", not "GTK" or "gtk"
> + "GNOME", not "Gnome"
> + "PostScript", not "Postscript" or "postscript"
> 3. use the indefinite articles "a" or "an" where not strictly necessary;
> especially not as the first word of the short description
> 4. contain capital letters or periods, except where required by 2)
> 5. refer to the fact that it is a Debian package (this is known from
> context and is not new information)
> 6. use abbreviations like "&", "misc.", "etc.", or similar forms
>
> A package's short description must not:
> * be identical to the short description of another package
> * be longer than 80 characters
- --
Taketoshi Sano: <sano@debian.org>,<sano@debian.or.jp>,<kgh12351@nifty.ne.jp>
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