From owner-cvs-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Wed May 7 11:40:21 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: cvs-doc@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6DFA137B404; Wed, 7 May 2003 11:40:21 -0700 (PDT) Received: from magic.adaptec.com (magic-mail.adaptec.com [208.236.45.100]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9DA6543F75; Wed, 7 May 2003 11:40:19 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from scott_long@btc.adaptec.com) Received: from redfish.adaptec.com (redfish.adaptec.com [162.62.50.11]) by magic.adaptec.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id h47IasZ19142; Wed, 7 May 2003 11:36:54 -0700 Received: from btc.adaptec.com (ws10103-60.otc.adaptec.com [10.10.3.60]) by redfish.adaptec.com (8.8.8p2+Sun/8.8.8) with ESMTP id LAA29518; Wed, 7 May 2003 11:40:10 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <3EB952FA.6020106@btc.adaptec.com> Date: Wed, 07 May 2003 12:39:54 -0600 From: Scott Long User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.3) Gecko/20030425 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Hiten Pandya References: <20030507084829.GB15496@HAL9000.homeunix.com> <20030507182528.GA91008@perrin.int.nxad.com> In-Reply-To: <20030507182528.GA91008@perrin.int.nxad.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit cc: Tom Rhodes cc: Doug Barton cc: des@FreeBSD.org cc: John Baldwin cc: David Schultz cc: doc-committers@FreeBSD.org cc: cvs-all@FreeBSD.org cc: cvs-doc@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: cvs commit: doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/disks chapter.sgml X-BeenThere: cvs-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: CVS commit messages for the doc and www trees List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 07 May 2003 18:40:22 -0000 Hiten Pandya wrote: > On Wed, May 07, 2003 at 01:04:10PM -0400, John Baldwin wrote: > >>On 07-May-2003 David Schultz wrote: >> >>>On Wed, May 07, 2003, Hiten Pandya wrote: >>> >>>>On Tue, May 06, 2003 at 11:00:18PM -0700, Doug Barton wrote: >>>> >>>>>>Actually, and according to my dictionary, irrelevant is more correct >>>>>>here. >>>>> >>>>>That wasn't my actual question. :) Let me rephrase. "Given that these two >>>>>words basically mean the same thing in context, what was the overwhelming >>>>>necessity of this change?" If the reason was, "To make the meaning >>>>>slightly more accurate," then we can argue the merits based on that... I'm >>>>>just curious. >>>> >>>> Two reasons: >>>> >>>> a) Use simple english which everyone can understand. >>>> Many people from the far east etc do not understand such >>>> words, while they can undersand ``useless'' or >>>> ''irrelevant''. This is also the same reason for my >>>> "automatic to automagic" change. >>>> >>>> b) The 'insignificant' meaning of the word `moot' is >>>> secondary, while it's primary meaning is the opposite >>> >>>I don't think that there's any requirement that FreeBSD >>>documentation read like a Henry James novel. Some people have >>>colorful writing styles that involve words such as >>>``automagical'', ``moot'', and ``kludge'', and I'm not convinced >>>that this is a problem. Documentation isn't my domain, so I won't >>>stick my nose into this any further, but unless our translators >>>and other non-native English speakers have major qualms about >>>this kind of detail, I do consider this to be gratuitous. >> >>Agreed. automagical is a favorite word of several folks and does >>have a slightly different connotation from just 'automatic'. :) > > > OK. I give up. I have answered atleast 20 mails regarding > these two commits. If this upsets a lot of committers, than I > apologise for this well-intentioned commit of mine. > > Thanks for the advise. I will keep it in mind. > Cheers. > > -- Hiten (hmp@FreeBSD.ORG) Hiten, Unix is filled with lots of color. It's one of the things that makes it enjoyable to work on. Please don't take the complaints personally, but also be aware that the nature of Unix makes it resistant to the white-washing that you are attempting. There is plenty of unwritten documentation out there that is waiting for an author like yourself; concentrating on that might wind up being more rewarding and subject you to fewer bikesheds =-) Scott