Package: woof
Version: 20091227-2
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
The package description for woof has several trivial problems.
> Package: woof
[...]
> Description: share files through HTTP protocol
That should be either (somewhat redundantly) "the HTTP protocol" or
just "HTTP".
(In fact DevRef recommends using a noun phrase such as "HTTP file
sharing tool" instead of a verb phrase like this, but never mind.)
> Woof (Web Offer One File) is a tool to copy files among hosts. It can serve a
> specified file on HTTP, just for a given number of times, and then exits.
^^ ^^^
More idiomatically "over HTTP, just a given number of times".
It "can serve [...] and then exit" (not "exits").
> .
> It can be easily used to share files across the computers on a net,
Since so many of these sentences start with "it can" I would suggest
changing this to "It makes it easy to share..."
"Computers on a net" is awkward, especially when it goes on to point
out that they needn't be computers. I would suggest simply "to share
files across a network".
> enough
> the
> other ends have just a browser (that means you can share things between
> different operating systems or different devices, even phones).
"Enough" and "just" can't grammatically be used this way. I think
you're trying to say "as long as the other ends have web browsers".
(File browsers aren't enough! And in English the browsers are plural
even if each machine only has one.)
The bit about sharing things with phones is repeated below, so leave
it out this time.
> .
> Features include:
> * it can share stuff "one shot" and exit just after he served that file.
Grammar error - it goes from an "it" to a "he" halfway through the
sentence. The more idiomatic English would be "and exit as soon as
it serves that file".
Since each of these bullet-points follows on from a colon with no
initial capitalisation I would recommend separating them with
semicolons.
> * it can share things among different operating system or different devices
> (e.g.: a smartphone), and allows one to upload files easily.
You don't just mean different devices (such as my workstation and a
colleague's), you mean different *types* of hardware. And even my
old dumbphone can download files from a web browser!
The uploading part is again redundant and doesn't really fit here.
> * it can also show a simple html form in order to upload file (useful if the
> client hasn't a way to serve the file).
s/html/HTML/, missing article (say "upload a file"), and unidiomatic
negation (say "has no way").
My proposed version:
| Package: woof
[...]
| Description: share files through HTTP
| Woof (Web Offer One File) is a tool to copy files among hosts. It can serve
| a specified file over HTTP, just a given number of times, and then exit.
| .
| It makes it easy to share files across a network, as long as the other ends
| have web browsers.
| .
| Features include:
| * it can share stuff "one shot" and exit as soon as it serves that file;
| * it can share things with different operating systems or types of device
| (including phones);
| * it can also show a simple HTML form in order to upload a file (useful if
| the client has no way to serve the file).
--
JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
diff -ru woof-20091227.pristine/debian/control woof-20091227/debian/control
--- woof-20091227.pristine/debian/control 2011-09-13 23:11:53.000000000 +0100
+++ woof-20091227/debian/control 2015-05-14 00:54:59.588207383 +0100
@@ -11,17 +11,16 @@
Package: woof
Architecture: all
Depends: ${python:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
-Description: share files through HTTP protocol
- Woof (Web Offer One File) is a tool to copy files among hosts. It can serve a
- specified file on HTTP, just for a given number of times, and then exits.
+Description: share files through HTTP
+ Woof (Web Offer One File) is a tool to copy files among hosts. It can serve
+ a specified file over HTTP, just a given number of times, and then exit.
.
- It can be easily used to share files across the computers on a net, enough the
- other ends have just a browser (that means you can share things between
- different operating systems or different devices, even phones).
+ It makes it easy to share files across a network, as long as the other ends
+ have web browsers.
.
Features include:
- * it can share stuff "one shot" and exit just after he served that file.
- * it can share things among different operating system or different devices
- (e.g.: a smartphone), and allows one to upload files easily.
- * it can also show a simple html form in order to upload file (useful if the
- client hasn't a way to serve the file).
+ * it can share stuff "one shot" and exit as soon as it serves that file;
+ * it can share things with different operating systems or types of device
+ (including phones);
+ * it can also show a simple HTML form in order to upload a file (useful if
+ the client has no way to serve the file).
