Re: Patch to correct a little wording mistake

[Peter Clifton <pcjc2 cam ac uk>]

On Wed, 2007-11-07 at 16:30 +0100, Milan wrote:
> 
> > applet-dbus-devices.c.diff for 0.6.5) change the sentence to "The
> > network connection has been interrupted.", which is the same as the
> old
> > but with correct syntax.

What do you mean "with correct syntax?"

-                       _("The network connection has been disconnected."), "nm-no-connection");
+                       _("The network connection has been interrupted."), "nm-no-connection");

"The network connection has been interrupted." implies a transient
event, and leaves an ambiguity as to whether the interruption has now
passed. What is the context of this message?


-                       _("The network connection has been disconnected."), "nm-no-connection");
+                       _("The network connection is down."), "nm-no-connection");

"The network connection is down." is a rather colloquial term, and I
think the original string is better, even if I can't see the grammatical
error. Note that "disconnected" is used as a verb here, not an
adjective.

"The network connection is disconnected." (using disconnected as an
adjective) might be better for a status report which is not triggered
from a disconnection, but if this message is seen at the disconnection
event, a status message implying the the verb is better.

If your complaint is that "had been disconnected" isn't grammatically
correct, could you suggest an alternative which preserves the
implication that of the disconnection event? (Or explain to me, what's
wrong with the original... its been a long time since English grammar in
school!).

In any case, I'm not a Network manager developer, but feel that the
strings you proposed don't add clarity to the messages. Perhaps it would
help if you could put the strings into better context.

Best wishes,

-- 
Peter Clifton

Electrical Engineering Division,
Engineering Department,
University of Cambridge,
9, JJ Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge
CB3 0FA

Tel: +44 (0)7729 980173 - (No signal in the lab!)