Package: herbstluftwm Version: 0.5.1-1 Severity: wishlist Tags: patch The package description for herbstluftwm has minor flaws of several different kinds; put them all together and they're just about worth filing a wishlist bug.
# Package: herbstluftwm [...] # Description: manual tiling window manager for X11 Well, that's okay, though it makes me wonder how many manual tiling window managers there are in Debian that *aren't* "for X11". # In herbstluftwm the layout is based on splitting frames into # subframes which can be split again or can be filled with windows, Instead of launching straight into the technical details of how hlwm organises its layouts by splitting up frames (where did the frames come from in the first place?), it would be friendlier if this description started by introducing herbstluftwm. The sentence is also a bit awkward, and runs on into the next with a "comma splice" (maybe a typo, since it's followed by unnecessary capitalisation). I won't insist on actually translating Herbstluft (since for a start I don't know whether it makes more sense to say "fall air" or "autumn breeze"); that can go to http://wiki.debian.org/WhyTheName! # Tags (or workspaces or virtual desktops or ...) can be added/removed This style of ellipsis is unidiomatic, and I have no idea what the third option apart for workspaces and virtual desktops would be. What is it trying to say, anyway? Is it trying to define what tags are by comparing them to workspaces and so on? If so, the bigger problem is that it is confusing *tags* (the attributes that can be assigned to individual windows) with *layouts* (the workspace-like groupings of similarly tagged windows). Programmers often seem to end up using the word "tag" this way, to mean "set of things marked by the same label" (compare "git tags"), but it's a piece of synecdoche that you can't assume end users are familiar with. # at runtime. Each tag contains an own layout and exactly one tag is "At runtime" is again describing things in developerese: if it was only a build-time feature then it would be pointless to tell the users reading the description for the binary package. What you mean is that the tags (and/or perhaps the layouts) can be manipulated dynamically from "inside" the WM, right? Then "an own layout"... sorry, that's just ungrammatical. "Own" is not a normal adjective; it can only occur with a possessive. The quick fix is to say "contains a layout of its own", but "contains" isn't the right word anyway. # viewed on each monitor. The tags are monitor independent. I find it hard to follow what "exactly one tag is viewed on each monitor" is trying to tell me. Is it just saying that you can't configure hlwm to display several "virtual desktops" simultaneously, side-by-side on the same screen? That's not something I have ever wanted from my window manager, so I'm not sure why you'd mention it! And then saying "the tags are monitor independent" seems to directly contradict the previous sentence (as well as being short a hyphen). I'm not certain, but I think what you're trying to say here is that your screen has one layout (defined in terms of tags) at any given time, and that if you have multiple monitors then layouts can be shuffled between them (and that this is another part of the stuff that can be done dynamically "at runtime"). # . # It is configured at runtime via ipc calls from herbstclient. So the # configuration file is just a script which is run on startup. This stuff about runtime and IPC calls is again completely unhelpful for most of your potential users. As ipc(2) says, "Only standard library implementors and kernel hackers need to know about ipc()". My suggested rewrite: Description: manual tiling window manager The Herbstluft X window manager builds layouts out of frames which can be split into subframes or populated with windows, grouped by their associated "tags". A given monitor has one tag (like a workspace or virtual desktop) assigned to it at any time. . It can be dynamically reconfigured by commands given via herbstclient, so the configuration file is just a script which is run on startup. -- System Information: Debian Release: jessie/sid APT prefers testing APT policy: (990, 'testing'), (50, 'unstable') Architecture: i386 (i686) Kernel: Linux 3.8-2-686-pae (SMP w/1 CPU core) Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8) Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash Versions of packages herbstluftwm depends on: ii libc6 2.17-3 ii libglib2.0-0 2.36.1-2build1 ii libx11-6 2:1.5.0-1+deb7u1 ii libxinerama1 2:1.1.2-1+deb7u1 Versions of packages herbstluftwm recommends: ii dzen2 0.8.5-4 ii xterm 278-4 Versions of packages herbstluftwm suggests: ii suckless-tools 38-2 -- no debconf information -- JBR with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package
diff -ru herbstluftwm-0.5.1.pristine/debian/control herbstluftwm-0.5.1/debian/control --- herbstluftwm-0.5.1.pristine/debian/control 2013-01-04 23:39:26.000000000 +0000 +++ herbstluftwm-0.5.1/debian/control 2013-05-30 13:26:28.027563233 +0100 @@ -23,12 +23,11 @@ Recommends: dzen2, xterm Suggests: suckless-tools Provides: x-window-manager -Description: manual tiling window manager for X11 - In herbstluftwm the layout is based on splitting frames into - subframes which can be split again or can be filled with windows, - Tags (or workspaces or virtual desktops or ...) can be added/removed - at runtime. Each tag contains an own layout and exactly one tag is - viewed on each monitor. The tags are monitor independent. +Description: manual tiling window manager + The Herbstluft X window manager builds layouts out of frames which can + be split into subframes or populated with windows, grouped by their + associated "tags". A given monitor has one tag (like a workspace or + virtual desktop) assigned to it at any time. . - It is configured at runtime via ipc calls from herbstclient. So the - configuration file is just a script which is run on startup. + It can be dynamically reconfigured by commands given via herbstclient, + so the configuration file is just a script which is run on startup.
