Re: [PATCH 66/66] Use imperative form in help usage to describe an action
- From
- Drew Northup <n1xim.email@gmail.com>
- Date
- Aug 22, 2012, 18:32 UTC
- Message-ID
- <CAM9Z-nmrtU_a1v_4C_j=YAF7_HZ4+hGnBUcp969JfAbSXgUBig@mail.gmail.com>
- In-Reply-To
- <1345465975-16927-67-git-send-email-pclouds@gmail.com>
On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 8:32 AM, Nguyễn Thái Ngọc Duy <pclouds@gmail.com> wrote:
Show 5 quoted lines
> > Signed-off-by: Nguyễn Thái Ngọc Duy <pclouds@gmail.com> > --- > My guts tell me this is correct, but my English foundation is shaking > so I say "change in the name of consistency"!
Your gut is working just fine. I haven't attempted to apply the patch, but the English changes check out just fine. It could be argued that these all should have taken the imperative form from the beginning as the user is directing the program to do something (perhaps vicariously via the documentation).
The other perspective I can think of off hand is that the documentation is describing what the program options do to the user (a different "audience")--which explains why the text wasn't in imperative form to begin with.
-- -Drew Northup -------------------------------------------------------------- "As opposed to vegetable or mineral error?" -John Pescatore, SANS NewsBites Vol. 12 Num. 59