Package: make
Version: 3.81-8
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
Two years ago you kindly agreed to change the package description of
"make" (bug #508456). Unfortunately while your replacement text dealt
with the existing issues, the new version prominently features an
added non-native-speakerism in the synopsis, along with a couple of
other wishlist-level grammar and punctuation glitches.
> Package: make
[...]
> Description: An utility for Directing compilation.
^^ ^ ^
Not just an unnecessarily capitalised surplus article but a *wrong*
article, along with some bonus overcapitalisation and overpunctuation.
> GNU Make is an utility which controls the generation of executables and
^
Again, wrong indefinite article. Before a vowel sound it's "an", but
before a consonant sound it's "a" - regardless of the spelling. So
it's "an hour", "a eunuch", "an xterm", "a one-off", "an yttrocerite",
"a utility".
> other target files of a program from the program's source files. It
> determines automatically which pieces of a large program need to be
> (re)created, and issues the commands to (re)create them. Make is not
> limited to programs and executable, it can be applied to any task
^
That should be "programs and executableS" plural (though I don't quite
grasp the distinction here). Then the following sentence is run on
with just a "comma splice" - a practice universally frowned on by
style guides. Just upgrading it to a semicolon would fix that.
> where a set of target files must be created based on a set of input
> files, based on dependency and processing rules. Indeed, Make is a
^^^^^^^^
Awkwardly stacked use of "based on" - the second would surely be
clearer as "according to" or "following".
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 6.0
APT prefers stable
APT policy: (500, 'stable'), (200, 'squeeze-updates')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Versions of packages make depends on:
ii libc6 2.11.2-10 Embedded GNU C Library: Shared lib
make recommends no packages.
Versions of packages make suggests:
pn make-doc <none> (no description available)
-- no debconf information
--
JBR
Ankh kak! (Ancient Egyptian blessing)
diff -ru make-dfsg-3.81.pristine//debian/control make-dfsg-3.81/debian/control
--- make-dfsg-3.81.pristine//debian/control 2011-02-06 16:16:03.000000000 +0000
+++ make-dfsg-3.81/debian/control 2011-02-06 16:18:21.621258869 +0000
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@
Priority: standard
Suggests: make-doc
Architecture: any
-Description: An utility for Directing compilation.
- GNU Make is an utility which controls the generation of executables and
+Description: utility for directing compilation
+ GNU Make is a utility which controls the generation of executables and
other target files of a program from the program's source files. It
determines automatically which pieces of a large program need to be
(re)created, and issues the commands to (re)create them. Make is not
- limited to programs and executable, it can be applied to any task
+ limited to programs and executables; it can be applied to any task
where a set of target files must be created based on a set of input
- files, based on dependency and processing rules. Indeed, Make is a
+ files according to dependency and processing rules. Indeed, Make is a
general purpose dependency solver.
Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}
