[Pkg-fonts-devel] Bug#680936: package description too historical

[Justin B Rye]

Erik Esterer wrote:
> Dear Fonts Task Force,
>
> while translating the package description of fonts-gfs-neohellenic I
> checked the descriptions of fonts-gfs-* packages and I think they
> are too historic. E.g. the description of fonts-gfs-neohellenic[1]
> has the most important information (What does it look like? Which
> weights?) hidden in a long text. Consider the following shortened
> version:
> 
> "New Greek font family with matching Latin
   ^
Bear in mind that DevRef says not to capitalise the first word of the
synopsis.
 
> New Hellenic is a round, and almost monoline Greek font family. It

This is a much better place to start, though skipping all the stuff
about the British Museum does make it unclear how this is a "new"
Greek font family - would "modern" make more sense?

I might also mention that as a non-specialist I had no idea what
"monoline" means - Wikipedia redirects me to a page on financial
insurance...

> consists of several weights (normal, italic, bold and bold italic) as
> well as a latin version.  
            ^
That should be "Latin" (as in the synopsis).  The d-l-e house style
would also add a ("Harvard") comma before "and bold italic".

> ..
> It was originally designed 1927 by Victor Scholderer and cut by the
                            ^
Missing word: designed in 1927

> Lanston Monotype Corporation. It is the revival of a type which had
> first appeared in 1492 in the edition of Macrobius, ascribable to

"The edition of Macrobius" isn't idiomatic English.  Should it be "in
a 1492 printing of Macrobius"?

"Ascribable" should probably be "attributed".

> the printing shop of Giovanni Rosso (Joannes Rubeus) in Venice. The
> Greek Font Society digitized the typeface (1993-1994) funded by the
> Athens Archeological Society with the addition of a new set of
> epigraphical symbols."

Google seems to be confirming my feeling that "epigraphic symbols" is
commoner than "epigraphical symbols".  And I'd even suggest that this
is a case where passive voice makes things flow better:

  In 1993-4 the typeface was digitized by the Greek Font Society (funded
  by the Athens Archeological Society), with the addition of a new set of
  epigraphic symbols.

(Do users really care who funded it?)
-- 
JBR
Ankh kak! (Ancient Egyptian blessing)