On Fri, Jan 10, 2003 at 06:12:23PM +0100, Durk Strooisma wrote: > Hi all, > > First I'm not really sure this is the right place to ask this question, but > it's a question related to documentation conventions concerning Debian. > > To get an answer to question, I tried the IRC channel #debian > (freenode.net). The following is the discussion which happened there (I'm > Durk): > <Durk> Hi people, I'm getting a bit confused by the naming of things in the > Debian archive structure. I'm wondering if there is a official name for > "main", "contrib", "non-free". The Debian Policy Manual calls these things > "sections", but the man page of "sources.list" calls them components. Not to > mention the different speak of people. Or.. isn't there just a official name? > <jm_> durnew -- they have been called section since I can remember > <Durk> jm_: how much official is it? Isn't there a naming convention? > <cafuego> Durk: We pretty much all bide by whatever jm_ decides. > <jm_> Durk -- well I'm just a long term Debian user, it has always been > called section in my book > <Durk> jm_: then it's pretty strange people call it component in man pages.. > But I should call it "section" to avoid misunderstanding? > <jm_> Durk -- well I think more people will know what a section is as > opposed to a component > <Durk> jm_: yeah, of course, by the meaning of the word... > <Durk> jm_: okay, so I may conclude that there is no officiallity in naming > of the objects "main", "contrib", etc. > <jm_> Durk -- ask on the mailing list to be sure ;) > <Durk> jm_: okay I will. Thanks sofar :-) > > Additional, it seems that the word "component" is also used in the Release > files which remain in the Debian archives. > > Hope you can help. :-) >
Section sounds better to me, too. The most effective approach would be to submit a patch to the man page, as a wishlist bug on the package. -- "The way the Romans made sure their bridges worked is what we should do with software engineers. They put the designer under the bridge, and then they marched over it." -- Lawrence Bernstein, Discover, Feb 2003
