[Debtags-devel] Good short descriptions: the protocols

[Torsten Marek]

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Benjamin Mesing schrieb:
> Hello
> 
> 
>>Since the short description is used as the name of the tag in applications, a
>>bit of unification would do good here.
> 
> Agreed!
> 
> 
>>1. add the acronym as the short description. All acronyms are well-known, maybe
>>even better than the long versions.
>>This is not possible in all cases, for instance for the im protocols. In this
>>case, just write "XYZ instant messaging" ("instant messaging" looks weird, but
>>it's a proper enough term to have it's wikipedia entry).
>>Other cases might arise, but they have to be solved on one-to-one basis.
>>2. Add the acronym expension to the long description (maybe followed by the
>>acronym in parentheses), together with a small synopsis what this protocol
>>actually does; or just describe the in some sentences and mention the expansion
>>once.
> 
> I would go with including the acronym expansion in the short
> description:
>         
>         Tag: protocol::http
>         Description: HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
>          Stateless protocol for data transfer between HTTP servers (like Apache) and
>          clients (such as web browser) in the WWW.
> or
>         Tag: protocol::http
>         Description: HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol
>          Stateless protocol for data transfer between HTTP servers (like Apache) and
>          clients (such as web browser) in the WWW.
> Note that it is _Transfer_ not _Transport_ (from what I know and from
> what wikipedia tells). Btw wouldn't it be nice to replace WWW with world
> wide web - or even better "internet" (everyone who needs HTTP to have
> explained might not know the acronym WWW)?

You're right about Transfer. How embarrassing for me....
You're right about the usage of acronyms as well.

However, I'm not sure about the inclusion of the expanded name in the short
description. It works nicely with HTTP, but then there are other protocols like
CORBA == Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA).
I was mainly thinking about using these descriptions in a dropdown box or in a
web interface, were the space matters. If this is not a problem (what do the
authors of package browsers/managers say?), then we would better do it like this.

greetings

Torsten

- --
Torsten Marek <shlomme at gmx.net>
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