Re: Bug#227762: Typo / Language in section 3.10
On Thu, Jan 15, 2004 at 12:48:52AM -0500, Hubert Chan wrote:
> >>>>> "Mark" == Mark Janssen <maniac@maniac.nl> writes:
>
> [...]
>
> Mark> This should be either:
> Mark> which is unnecessary...
> Mark> that is unnecessary...
>
> While we're already talking about this...
>
> The "which" form is incorrect. The correct version is "that is
> unnecessary...".
>
> From _The Elements of Style_ (Strunk and White, 4th ed) p. 59
> "/That/ is the defining, or restrictive, pronoun, /which/ the
> nondefining, or nonrestrictive."
>
> In other words, you use "which" if you can remove that clause and it
> is still clear exactly what the subject is, and you use "that" if the
> clause helps define what the subject is. In this instance, "...is
> unnecessary..." defines which output we are talking about, so the
> correct thing to use is "that".
>
I don't have S&W on my desk now, but I recall that active voice is
preferred to passive voice. If so, perhaps:
The package installation scripts should not produce output that the
user need not see, and ...
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@peakpeak.com
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