Proofreading

[Stephen M. Webb]

On 15-02-26 06:02 AM, Hannie Dumoleyn wrote:
> [...]
> I have a question on the following: is it allowed to use the word "apps" instead
> of "applications"? Example: see page unity-launcher-shapes.html.

While I'm not an expert on current English usage (I never did sew those patches on the elbows of my tweed sportcoat) I'd
like to point out that the word "app" has come to mean small lightweight programs, used on a mobile consumer computing
device, that provide a branded front-end to a web page or related remote API for a web service.  They are generally
installed from a commercial "store" without any sources available and are an important part of the "walled garden of
consumption" used by many in place of the World Wide Web.  An "application" on the other hand is any program that runs
locally on a computer, generally a synonym for a program with a graphical user interface and likely provides a purpose
to the user other than feeding eyes to a third-party agency.

I haven't seen any such official definition, but very much noticed this difference in usage in both engineering circles
and in the media.  I'm sure there are some academic papers in there for someone.

So, going by what I experience as popular usage, I would say "app" and "application" are not interchangeable terms, and
in Ubuntu Desktop Guide we want to use the term "application" consistently, at least until convergence brings phone apps
to the desktop.

-- 
Stephen M. Webb  <stephen.webb at canonical.com>