proposed string change to ubuntu-docs

[Colin Watson]

On Mon, Oct 03, 2005 at 04:16:56PM +0100, Matthew East wrote:
> We have a string at the moment in the ubuntu-docs package which we would
> like to apply to change, i.e. an exception to the String Freeze which
> passed several weeks ago.
[...]
> The string under discussion is the one that appears in the Yelp base
> menu, which you get when you click on Help in the menu. Presently it
> reads:
> 
> Unofficial Ubuntu 5.10 Starter Guide
[...]
> We think that the word "unofficial" should be removed from this string.
> 
> Advantages of changing the string would be:
>  * reflect the major changes and serious work that has gone into the
> guide
>  * give users greater confidence in the guide
>  * avoid unnecessary conflicts with the guide at ubuntuguide.org
> 
> Now, as we all know, the string freeze is essentially in place to allow
> translation of the stuff to go ahead. It is as well to mention at this
> point that there has been no translation that I am aware of with regard
> to that string, either for Hoary or for Breezy (i've checked the major
> languages that I've seen). The string therefore appears in English
> regardless of the user's locale. For this reason I am convinced that
> there is no disadvantage to changing the string.

If there are no actual translations of that string, either in the
package or in Rosetta, then it's fine to change it, subject to other
freeze constraints (for instance, changing the string shouldn't cause
"interesting" changes in functionality).

Changes here should happen as soon as possible or not at all, since we
have release candidate in three days.

> In fact, it goes even further than this. If we were to change the string
> to Ubuntu FAQ Guide, this is a string which appears in the translated
> document, and as a result we should be able to get a translated string
> also appearing in the Yelp menu.

I'm not convinced that "Ubuntu FAQ Guide" is a good replacement for the
above string, though. Shouldn't user-facing documentation avoid
abbreviations that aren't in everyday use outside the Internet
community? Besides, when expanded, "Ubuntu Frequently Asked Questions
Guide" seems like a somewhat random collection of words to me.

Cheers,

-- 
Colin Watson                                       [cjwatson at ubuntu.com]