GNU bug report logs - #11862
[PATCH 0/9] doc/lispref/intro.texi: Copyediting

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From: Stephen Berman <stephen.berman <at> gmx.net>
To: rms <at> gnu.org
Cc: 11862 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Michael Witten <mfwitten <at> gmail.com>
Subject: bug#11862: [PATCH 9/9] doc/lispref/intro.texi: Use passive voice
Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:04:22 +0200

On Thu, 05 Jul 2012 06:14:00 -0400 Richard Stallman <rms <at> gnu.org> wrote:

>      The value of this variable is the version of Emacs being run.  It is a
>      string such as @code{"23.1.1"}.  The last number in this string is not
>      really part of the Emacs release version number; it is incremented
>     -each time you build Emacs in any given directory.  A value with four
>     +each time Emacs is built in any given directory.
>
> Please use the active voice by preference.
> For instance, you could write it this:
>
>    each time you build Emacs in a given directory, that increments this number.

This sounds rather awkward to me.  Would you accept "it gets
incremented" as a "more active passive" alternative?  Aside from style,
the statement is inaccurate, isn't it?  At least with "make bootstrap"
the last number is always 1.

Steve Berman

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