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Re: Bug#139957: period at the end of short description?



On Sat, 2002-03-30 at 01:52, Colin Walters wrote:
> On Fri, 2002-03-29 at 11:51, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> > >>"Chris" == Chris Waters <xtifr@debian.org> writes:
> > 
> >  Chris> I'd rather have this be a guideline than a rule.  So, I'm not sure
> >  Chris> policy is the right place.  (Sure wish we had someplace else where
> >  Chris> guidelines could go.)  But if it does go in policy, I think "should"
> >  Chris> might be too strong.
> > 
> > 	I would have less objection were this couched as a
> >  ``recommends'' rather than a should rule, 
> 
> Ok, how about the attached patch?

Siigh.



cd /tmp/
diff -u -L /usr/share/doc/debian-policy/policy.sgml.gz -L /tmp/policy.new.sgml /tmp/jka-com14265Qx /tmp/policy.new.sgml
--- /usr/share/doc/debian-policy/policy.sgml.gz
+++ /tmp/policy.new.sgml
@@ -2392,12 +2392,17 @@
 	  conflicts have been declared.
 	</p>
 
-	<sect1><heading>Notes about writing descriptions
+	<sect1><heading>Recommendations for writing descriptions
 	  </heading>
-
+	  
 	  <p>
-	    The single line synopsis should be kept brief - certainly
-	    under 80 characters.
+	    The description begins with a single line synopsis.  The
+	    purpose of this line is much like that of a subtitle for a
+	    book; it should concisely describe (in under 80
+	    characters) what the package is.  It is recommended that
+	    the first letter in the synopsis not be capitalized, and
+	    that it not end in a period, unless this would occur
+	    naturally because of the presence of e.g. acronyms.
 	  </p>
 
 	  <p>

Diff finished at Sat Mar 30 01:40:02

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