cvs commit: doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/disks chapter.sgml

[Scott Long]

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 at 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