Re: GNOME Documentation Style Guide

[Trevor Curtis <trevor curtis home com>]

On Sat, Jul 14, 2001 at 12:46:51AM -0400, Bill Day wrote:
> I have just joined the list, so I am writing with a little trepidation.
> Nevertheless, as a new subscriber, I was quite shocked to see that the
> Style Guide contained a prohibition on the use of the humble apostrophe.
> Granted, the use of the apostrophe to show possession is peculiar to
> English as far as I know.  However, the structure is fundamental in
> English, and as I recall it is normally introduced in first-year classes
> in English as a Second Language.
 
<snip>

There have been a few issues come up here and on irc with what seem to
be "odd" suggestions as to our wording, phrasing, et al. What we've
had to keep in mind is that indirectly we are writting
for a multi-lingual audience. These suggestions are made more for the
benefit of the translators who have to translate our english docs to
something readable in their respective languages.

So in short, it's for the greater good. It may seem a little odd, but
when you get right down to it, tech docs are supposed to be rather
simple and free of needless complexities anyways.

I hope that explains it.

cheers,

Trevor Curtis