[MPlayer-cvslog] CVS: main/DOCS/tech slave.txt,1.34,1.35

[The Wanderer]

Diego Biurrun wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 25, 2005 at 08:38:38AM -0400, The Wanderer wrote:
> 
>>Diego Biurrun CVS wrote:
>>
>>>+When run with the -slave option MPlayer will read commands separated by a
>>>+newline (\n) from stdin. This allows controlling MPlayer like a user would with
>>>+keypresses and command line options and is useful for building simple frontends.
>> 
>> "This allows controlling MPlayer" - I'm not sure this usage is
>> correct (I've objected to similar usages before), but I'm suddenly
>> no longer 100% sure that it isn't. It looks awkward to me as it
>> stands, but...
>> 
>> "This allows one to control MPlayer" or
>> 
>> "This allows MPlayer to be controlled" or
>> 
>> "This allows the possibility of controlling MPlayer"
>> 
>> all sound acceptable to me - but that last isn't all that different
>> from the original form (just a sub-phrase inserted in the middle),
>> which leads me to think that maybe the original form was correct
>> enough after all. Thoughts?
>> 
>> (I'm also not completely happy with the usage of "like" here, but
>> none of the alternatives I've looked at are superior enough to
>> point out; plus, in at least the current phrasing, you want a comma
>> after "options".)
> 
> I like the second one best on its own, but
> 
> This allows MPlayer to be controlled like a user would
> 
> sounds worse in my ears than
> 
> This allows controlling MPlayer like a user would

I'd probably agree there. The simplest fix for the former form is
something like "This allows MPlayer to be controlled the way a user
would do it," (note the comma and see above), but that changes the tone
somewhat, so the whole winds up being slightly more casual than it had
been before; that could be fixed by saying "control it" instead of "do
it", but that means repetition of "control" and sounds even worse.

I'd thought this out before, actually, but as I said nothing I came up
with was sufficiently superior to point out...

Wait. I've read further in the list now, and your commit fixes the
problem by avoiding it entirely (though if desired you would be able to
retain some of the previous sentiment by inserting "user-style" before
"commands"). Subject dropped.

-- 
       The Wanderer

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.

A government exists to serve its citizens, not to control them.