From owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Nov 24 20:34:22 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: doc@FreeBSD.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7C6251065676; Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:34:22 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from trhodes@FreeBSD.org) Received: from pittgoth.com (pittgoth.com [205.134.163.206]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2402C8FC12; Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:34:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from trhodes@FreeBSD.org) Received: from localhost.fbsdsecure.org (c-68-83-213-214.hsd1.va.comcast.net [68.83.213.214]) (authenticated bits=0) by pittgoth.com (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id mAOKY237018475 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:34:02 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from trhodes@FreeBSD.org) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:33:58 -0500 From: Tom Rhodes To: "Rene Ladan" Message-Id: <20081124153358.7a539e67.trhodes@FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: References: <492AE607.4020208@gmail.com> <20081124135107.06a8af26.trhodes@FreeBSD.org> <87abbp3q5o.fsf@kobe.laptop> <492B01C4.6090707@gmail.com> X-Mailer: Sylpheed version 1.0.6 (GTK+ 1.2.10; i386-portbld-freebsd8.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: trhodes@FreeBSD.org, doc@FreeBSD.org, pgj@FreeBSD.org, gabor@kovesdan.org, keramida@FreeBSD.org, remko@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: A patch for the 'geom' chapter X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:34:22 -0000 On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:57:14 +0100 "Rene Ladan" wrote: > 2008/11/24 Manolis Kiagias : > > Giorgos Keramidas wrote: > >> On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:51:07 -0500, Tom Rhodes wrote: > >> > >>> On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:36:07 +0200 > >>> Manolis Kiagias wrote: > >>> > >>>> http://people.freebsd.org/~manolis/geom.txt > >>>> > >> > >> > >>> This looks pretty good actually. I would probably change the > >>> following: > >>> > >>> + > >>> + Labeling Your Boot Disk's Partitions > >>> > >>> to: > >>> > >>> Labeling Partitions on the Boot Disk > >>> > >>> And there are a lot of "You" references. I've tried to write this > >>> without invoking the user as much as possible and may make reading the > >>> entire chapter difficult. I would prefer we not talk to the user > >>> though. > >>> > >> > >> I am not sure if I will have the time to read the full patch tonight, > >> but Tom is quite right about avoiding "you" when possible. > >> > >> > > Thanks. I will try to rephrase most parts into passive voice where > > possible. I guess I am somewhat influenced by the Greek translations, > > where sometimes passive voice sounds unnatural ;) > > > I think the same is true for the Dutch language. Using passive voice > sometimes sounds too formal/distant IMHO (it makes me think of legal > texts). Active voice also involves the reader more. It also makes it > possible to refer to e.g. 'their computer' instead of 'a computer', which > can be useful in examples. While true, it does have a few flaws, including it can make incorrect assumptions about the reader's sex, environment, etc. and adds a little less professionalism. So I try to write all my documentation carefully to avoid addressing the reader. Sometimes it would be easier, but that doesn't really make it right. In translations, though, I think it should be up to the initial teams. It could be very different for languages which I do not speak, whether passive voice is incorrect. :) -- Tom Rhodes