gnu: Synchronize descriptions with 'gnumaint'.

gnu/packages/autotools.scm

@@ -200,10 +200,10 @@ exec ~a --no-auto-compile \"$0\" \"$@\"
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/")
     (synopsis "Making GNU standards-compliant Makefiles")
     (description
-     "Automake the part of the GNU build system for producing standards-
+     "Automake the part of the GNU build system for producing
-compliant Makefiles.  Build requirements are entered in an intuitive format
+standards-compliant Makefiles.  Build requirements are entered in an
-and then Automake works with Autoconf to produce a robust Makefile,
+intuitive format and then Automake works with Autoconf to produce a robust
-simplifying the entire process for the developer.")
+Makefile, simplifying the entire process for the developer.")
     (license gpl2+)))                      ; some files are under GPLv3+
 
 (define-public libtool
@@ -257,8 +257,8 @@ simplifying the entire process for the developer.")
                      %standard-phases))))
     (synopsis "Generic shared library support tools")
     (description
-     "Libtool is a script to help in the creation of shared libraries.  By
+     "GNU Libtool helps in the creation and use of shared libraries, by
-presenting a consistent, portable interface, it hides the complexity of
+presenting a single consistent, portable interface that hides the usual
-building usable shared libraries.")
+complexity of working with shared libraries across platforms.")
     (license gpl3+)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/")))

gnu/packages/base.scm

@@ -81,10 +81,11 @@ command-line arguments, multiple languages, and so on.")
    (description
     "grep is a tool for finding text inside files.  Text is found by
 matching a pattern provided by the user in one or many files.  The pattern
-may be provided as a basic, extended, or Perl-style regular expression, as
+may be provided as a basic or extended regular expression, or as fixed
-well as a list of fixed strings.  By default, the matching text is simply
+strings.  By default, the matching text is simply printed to the screen,
-printed to the screen, however the output can be greatly customized to
+however the output can be greatly customized to include, for example, line
-include, for example, line numbers.")
+numbers.  GNU grep offers many extensions over the standard utility,
+including, for example, recursive directory searching.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/grep/")))
 
@@ -118,7 +119,8 @@ include, for example, line numbers.")
     "Sed is a non-interactive, text stream editor.  It receives a text
 input from a file or from standard input and it then applies a series of text
 editing commands to the stream and prints its output to standard output.  It
-is often used for substituting text patterns in a stream.")
+is often used for substituting text patterns in a stream.  The GNU
+implementation offers several extensions over the standard utility.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/sed/")))
 
@@ -140,7 +142,8 @@ is often used for substituting text patterns in a stream.")
 ability to extract, update or list files in an existing archive.  It is
 useful for combining many files into one larger file, while maintaining
 directory structure and file information such as permissions and
-creation/modification dates.")
+creation/modification dates.  GNU tar offers many extensions over the
+standard utility.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/")))
 
@@ -165,7 +168,7 @@ creation/modification dates.")
    (synopsis "Apply differences to originals, with optional backups")
    (description
     "Patch is a program that applies changes to files based on differences
-laid out by the program \"diff\".  The changes may be applied to one or more
+laid out as by the program \"diff\".  The changes may be applied to one or more
 files depending on the contents of the diff file.  It accepts several
 different diff formats.  It may also be used to revert previously applied
 differences.")
@@ -186,10 +189,10 @@ differences.")
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (synopsis "Comparing and merging files")
    (description
-    "Diffutils is a package containing several tool for finding the
+    "GNU Diffutils is a package containing tools for finding the
-differences between files.  The diff command is used to show how two files
+differences between files.  The \"diff\" command is used to show how two files
-differ, while cmp shows the offsets and line numbers where they differ. 
+differ, while \"cmp\" shows the offsets and line numbers where they differ. 
-diff3 allows you to compare three files.  Finally, sdiff offers an
+\"diff3\" allows you to compare three files.  Finally, \"sdiff\" offers an
 interactive means to merge two files.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/")))
@@ -219,8 +222,8 @@ interactive means to merge two files.")
 GNU system.  It consists of two primary searching utilities: \"find\"
 recursively searches for files in a directory according to given criteria and
 \"locate\" lists files in a database that match a query.  Two auxiliary tools
-are included: \"updatedb\" updates a file name database and \"xargs\" may be used
+are included: \"updatedb\" updates the file name database and \"xargs\" may be
-to apply commands to file search results.")
+used to apply commands with arbitrarily long arguments.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/")))
 
@@ -261,7 +264,7 @@ to apply commands to file search results.")
                 %standard-phases)))
    (synopsis "Core GNU utilities (file, text, shell)")
    (description
-    "Coreutils includes all of the basic commandline tools that are
+    "GNU Coreutils includes all of the basic command-line tools that are
 expected in a POSIX system.  These provide the basic file, shell and text
 manipulation functions of the GNU system.  Most of these tools offer extended
 functionality beyond that which is outlined in the POSIX standard.")
@@ -301,7 +304,7 @@ executables or other files from their source files.  The process is
 controlled from a Makefile, in which the developer specifies how each file is
 generated from its source.  It has powerful dependency resolution and the
 ability to determine when files have to be regenerated after their sources
-change.")
+change.  GNU make offers many powerful extensions over the standard utility.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/make/")))
 
@@ -342,10 +345,10 @@ change.")
    (synopsis "Binary utilities: bfd gas gprof ld")
    (description
     "GNU Binutils is a collection of tools for working with binary files.
-Most notable are \"ld\", a linker, and \"as\", an assembler.  Several other tools
+Perhaps the most notable are \"ld\", a linker, and \"as\", an assembler. Other
-are included, such as a program to display binary profiling information, a
+tools include programs to display binary profiling information, list the
-tool to list the strings in a binary file, and tools for working with
+strings in a binary file, and utilities for working with archives.  The \"bfd\"
-archives.")
+library for working with executable and object formats is also included.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/")))
 

gnu/packages/bash.scm

@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@
                                    %standard-phases)))
      (synopsis "The GNU Bourne-Again SHell")
      (description
-      "Bash is the shell, or commandline interpreter, of the GNU system.  It
+      "Bash is the shell, or command-line interpreter, of the GNU system.  It
 is compatible with the Bourne Shell, but it also integrates useful features
 from the Korn Shell and the C Shell and new improvements of its own.  It
-allows commandline editing, unlimited command history, shell functions and
+allows command-line editing, unlimited command history, shell functions and
 aliases, and job control while still allowing most sh scripts to be run
 without modification.")
      (license gpl3+)

gnu/packages/bison.scm

@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/bison/")
     (synopsis "Parser generator")
     (description
-     "Bison is a general-purpose parser generator.  It can build a
+     "GNU Bison is a general-purpose parser generator.  It can build a
-deterministic LR or generalized LR parser from an annotated, context- free
+deterministic or generalized LR parser from an annotated, context-free
-grammar.  It is versatile enough to have a wide variety of applications, from
+grammar.  It is versatile enough to have many applications, from parsers for
-parsers for simple tools up to parsers for complex programming languages.")
+simple tools through complex programming languages.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/cdrom.scm

@@ -89,7 +89,9 @@ caching facility provided by the library.")
 for CD-ROM and CD image file access.  It allows the developer to add CD
 access to an application without having to worry about the OS- and
 device-dependent properties of CD-ROM or the specific details of CD image
-formats.")
+formats.  It includes pycdio, a Python interface to libcdio, and
+libcdio-paranoia, a library providing jitter-free and error-free audio
+extraction from CDs.")
     (license gpl3+)))
 
 (define-public xorriso
@@ -113,11 +115,12 @@ formats.")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/xorriso/")
     (synopsis "Create, manipulate, burn ISO-9660 filesystems")
     (description
-     "xorriso is a tool for copying files to and from ISO 9660 Rock Ridge,
+     "GNU Xorriso is a tool for copying files to and from ISO 9660 Rock
-a.k.a Compact Disc File System, filesystems and it allows session- wise
+Ridge, a.k.a. Compact Disc File System, filesystems and it allows
-manipulation of them.  It features a formatter and burner for CD DVD and BD. 
+session-wise manipulation of them.  It features a formatter and burner for
-It can operate on existing ISO images or it can create new ones.  xorriso can
+CD, DVD and BD.  It can operate on existing ISO images or it can create new
-then be used to copy files directly into or out of ISO files.")
+ones.  xorriso can then be used to copy files directly into or out of ISO
+files.")
     (license gpl3+)))
 
 (define-public cdparanoia

gnu/packages/cflow.scm

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/cflow/")
     (synopsis "Create a graph of control flow within a program")
     (description
-     "cflow analyzes C source files and produces a graph charting the
+     "GNU cflow analyzes C source files and produces a graph charting the
 control flow of the program.  It can output the graph in several styles and
 in either the POSIX format or in an extended GNU format. cflow also includes
 a major mode for Emacs for examining the flowcharts that it produces.")

gnu/packages/compression.scm

@@ -82,7 +82,10 @@ in compression.")
     ;; FIXME: The test suite wants `less', and optionally Perl.
     '(#:tests? #f))
    (description
-    "GNU Gzip is a data compression and decompression program.")
+    "GNU Gzip provides data compression and decompression utilities; the
+typical extension is \".gz\".  Unlike the \"zip\" format, it compresses a single
+file; as a result, it is often used in conjunction with \"tar\", resulting in
+\".tar.gz\" or \".tgz\", etc.")
    (license license:gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gzip/")))
 
@@ -278,9 +281,8 @@ archiving.  Lzip is a clean implementation of the LZMA algorithm.")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/sharutils/")
     (synopsis "Archives in shell scripts, uuencode/uudecode")
     (description
-     "GNU sharutils is a package for manipulating shell archives. Shell
+     "GNU sharutils is a package for creating and manipulating shell
-archives are collections of files that can be unpacked using only the shell;
+archives that can be readily emailed.  A shell archive is a file that can be
-an archive is a self-extracting shell script. The tools in the Sharutils
+processed by a Bourne-type shell to unpack the original collection of files. 
-package make working with shell archives more robust, offering compression,
+This package is mostly for compatibility and historical interest.")
-file-splitting and simple checksums.")
     (license license:gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/cpio.scm

@@ -39,9 +39,9 @@
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/cpio/")
     (synopsis "Manage cpio and tar file archives")
     (description
-     "Cpio copies files into or out of cpio or tar archives.  In fact, many
+     "GNU cpio copies files into or out of cpio or tar archives. Indeed,
-formats are supported, including legacy formats.  The format is determined
+many formats are supported, including legacy formats.  The format is
-automatically by the program and is handled appropriately. Furthermore, the
+determined automatically by the program and is handled appropriately. 
-location of the archive is not important.  It can be another file on the
+Furthermore, the location of the archive is not important.  It can be another
-drive, a tape, or data on a pipe.")
+file on the drive, a tape, or data on a pipe.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/ddrescue.scm

@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@
     (synopsis "Data recovery utility")
     (native-inputs `(("lzip" ,lzip)))
     (description
-     "Ddrescue is a fully automated data recovery tool.  It copies data from
+     "GNU ddrescue is a fully automated data recovery tool.  It copies data
-one file to another, working to rescue data in case of read errors.  The
+from one file to another, working to rescue data in case of read errors.  The
-program also includes a tool for manipulating its log- files, which are used
+program also includes a tool for manipulating its log files, which are used
 to recover data more efficiently by only reading the necessary blocks.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/dejagnu.scm

@@ -79,6 +79,5 @@
     (description
      "DejaGnu is a framework for testing software.  In effect, it serves as
 a front-end for all tests written for a program.  Thus, each program can have
-multiple test suites, which are then all managed by a single, so-called \"test
+multiple test suites, which are then all managed by a single harness.")
-harness.\"")
     (license gpl2+)))

gnu/packages/ed.scm

@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@
     (synopsis "Line-oriented text editor")
     (description
      "Ed is a line-oriented text editor: rather than offering an overview of
-a document, ed performs editing one line at a time.  It can be operated both
+a document, ed performs editing one line at a time.  It can be executed both
 interactively and via shell scripts.  Its method of command input allows
-complex tasks to be performed in an automated way, however it has largely
+complex tasks to be performed in an automated way. GNU ed offers several
-been superceded by full-screen editors like Emacs or Moe.")
+extensions over the standard utility.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/emacs.scm

@@ -89,13 +89,14 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/")
     (synopsis "The extensible, customizable, self-documenting text editor")
     (description
-     "Emacs is an extensible and highly customizable text editor.  It is
+     "GNU Emacs is an extensible and highly customizable text editor.  It is
-based on an Emacs Lisp interpreter which has extensions to support text
+based on an Emacs Lisp interpreter with extensions for text editing.  Emacs
-editing.  Due to its unique structure, it can be configured in an infinite
+has been extended in essentially all areas of computing, giving rise to a
-multitude of ways, which has given rise to a vast array of packages that have
+vast array of packages supporting, e.g., email, IRC and XMPP messaging,
-been written for it that do everything from working as an email client to
+spreadsheets, remote server editing, and much more.  Emacs includes extensive
-communicating online via IRC or XMPP.  Emacs is fully self-documenting and it
+documentation on all aspects of the system, from basic editing to writing
-features full Unicode support for nearly every human language.")
+large Lisp programs.  It has full Unicode support for nearly all human
+languages.")
     (license gpl3+)))
 
 

gnu/packages/freeipmi.scm

@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/")
     (synopsis "Platform management, including sensor and power monitoring")
     (description
-     "FreeIPMI is a collection of in-band and out-of-band IPMI software in
+     "GNU FreeIPMI is a collection of in-band and out-of-band IPMI software
-accordance with the IPMI v1.5/2.0 specification.  These programs provide a
+in accordance with the IPMI v1.5/2.0 specification.  These programs provide a
 set of interfaces for platform management.  Common functionality includes
 sensor monitoring, system event monitoring, power control and
 serial-over-LAN.")

gnu/packages/gawk.scm

@@ -65,9 +65,8 @@
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/")
    (synopsis "A text scanning and processing language")
    (description
-    "Gawk is an implementation of Awk, a specialised programming language
+    "Gawk is the GNU implementation of Awk, a specialized programming
-for the easy manipulation of formatted text, such as tables of data. The GNU
+language for the easy manipulation of formatted text, such as tables of data.
-implementation of Awk features a number of extensions beyond the traditional
+ Gawk features many extensions beyond the traditional implementation,
-implementations, making writing powerful text manipulation scripts a simple
+including network access, sorting, and large libraries.")
-task compared to writing similar programs in C.")
    (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/gcal.scm

@@ -37,11 +37,11 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gcal")
     (synopsis "Calculating and printing a wide variety of calendars")
     (description
-     "Gcal is a program to calculate and print calendars on the command-
+     "Gcal is a program to calculate and print calendars on the
-line.  Calendars can be printed in 1-month, 3-month or whole-year views. In
+command-line.  Calendars can be printed in 1-month, 3-month or whole-year
-addition, eternal holiday lists can be generated for many countries, which
+views. In addition, eternal holiday lists can be generated for many
-can be complemented by user-made lists of fixed dates to make an agenda. 
+countries, which can be complemented by user-made lists of fixed dates to
-Gcal can also calculate astronomical data, such as the phases of the moon,
+make an agenda.  Gcal can also calculate astronomical data, such as the
-and supports alternative calendar formats: Julian, Gregorian, Islamic,
+phases of the moon, and supports alternative calendar formats: Julian,
-Chinese and more.")
+Gregorian, Islamic, Chinese and more.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/gcc.scm

@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ where the OS part is overloaded to denote a specific ABI---into GCC
       (description
        "GCC is the GNU Compiler Collection.  It provides compiler front-ends
 for several languages, including C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Java, Ada, and
-Go.  It also includes standard libraries for these languages.")
+Go.  It also includes runtime support libraries for these languages.")
       (license gpl3+)
       (home-page "http://gcc.gnu.org/"))))
 

gnu/packages/gettext.scm

@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/")
     (synopsis "Tools and documentation for translation")
     (description
-     "gettext is a set of tools and documentation that provide a framework
+     "GNU Gettext is a package providing a framework for translating the
-for translating the textual output of programs into multiple languages.  It
+textual output of programs into multiple languages.  It provides translators
-provides translators with the means to create message catalogs, as well as an
+with the means to create message catalogs, as well as an Emacs mode to work
-Emacs mode to work with them, and a runtime library to load translated
+with them, and a runtime library to load translated messages from the
-messages from the catalogs.")
+catalogs.  Nearly all GNU packages use Gettext.")
     (license gpl3))) ; some files are under GPLv2+

gnu/packages/gnunet.scm

@@ -83,10 +83,10 @@
       ("zlib" ,zlib)))
    (synopsis "Library to extract meta-data from media files")
    (description
-    "GNU Libextractor is a library for extracting metadata from files.  It
+    "GNU libextractor is a library for extracting metadata from files.  It
 supports a very large number of file formats, including audio files, document
 files, and archive files.  Each file format is implemented as a plugin, so
-new formats can be added easily.  The package also containes a command-line
+new formats can be added easily.  The package also contains a command-line
 tool to extract metadata from a file and print the results.")
    (license license:gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libextractor/")))

gnu/packages/gnupg.scm

@@ -167,7 +167,9 @@ specifications are building blocks of S/MIME and TLS.")
      "The GNU Privacy Guard is a complete implementation of the OpenPGP
 standard.  It is used to encrypt and sign data and communication.  It
 features powerful key management and the ability to access public key
-servers.")
+servers.  It includes several libraries: libassuan (IPC between GnuPG
+components), libgpg-error (centralized GnuPG error values), and libskba
+(working with X.509 certificates and CMS data).")
     (license gpl3+)))
 
 (define-public gpgme

gnu/packages/gnutls.scm

@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/")
     (synopsis "ASN.1 library")
     (description
-     "Libtasn1 is a library implementing the ASN.1 notation.  It is used for
+     "GNU libtasn1 is a library implementing the ASN.1 notation.  It is used
-transmitting machine-neutral encodings of data objects in computer
+for transmitting machine-neutral encodings of data objects in computer
 networking, allowing for formal validation of data according to some
 specifications.")
     (license lgpl2.0+)))
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ specifications.")
     (synopsis "Transport layer security library")
     (description
      "GnuTLS is a secure communications library implementing the SSL, TLS
-and DTLS protocols.  It is provided in the form of a C library to the
+and DTLS protocols.  It is provided in the form of a C library to support the
 protocols, as well as to parse and write X.5009, PKCS 12, OpenPGP and other
 required structures.")
     (license lgpl2.1+)))

gnu/packages/gnuzilla.scm

@@ -93,5 +93,5 @@
     (description
      "IceCat is the GNU version of the Firefox browser.  It is entirely free
 software, which does not recommend non-free plugins and addons. It also
-features extra privacy-protecting features built in.")
+features built-in privacy-protecting features.")
     (license license:mpl2.0))) ; and others, see toolkit/content/license.html

gnu/packages/gprolog.scm

@@ -50,6 +50,6 @@
     (description
      "GNU Prolog is a standards-compliant Prolog compiler with constraint
 solving over finite domains.  It accepts Prolog+ constraint programs and
-produces a compiled, native binary which can function in a stand- alone
+produces a compiled, native binary which can function in a stand-alone
 manner.  It also features an interactive interpreter.")
     (license (list gpl2+ lgpl3+))))

gnu/packages/groff.scm

@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@
              ("texinfo" ,texinfo)))
    (synopsis "Typesetting from plain text mixed with formatting commands")
    (description
-    "The groff is a typesetting package that reads plain text and produces
+    "Groff is a typesetting package that reads plain text and produces
 formatted output based on formatting commands contained within the text.  It
-is used particularly often in the formatting of \"man\" documentation pages.")
+is usually the formatter of \"man\" documentation pages.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/groff/")))

gnu/packages/grub.scm

@@ -97,11 +97,11 @@
        ("qemu" ,qemu-for-tests)
        ("xorriso" ,xorriso)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/")
-    (synopsis "GRand unified boot loader")
+    (synopsis "GRand Unified Boot loader")
     (description
      "GRUB is a multiboot bootloader.  It is used for initially loading the
-kernel of an operating system and then transfering control to it. The kernel
+kernel of an operating system and then transferring control to it. The kernel
-then goes on to load the rest of the operating system.  As a multiboot boot
+then goes on to load the rest of the operating system. As a multiboot boot
 loader, GRUB handles the presence of multiple operating systems installed on
 the same computer; upon booting the computer, the user is presented with a
 menu to select one of the installed operating systems.")

gnu/packages/guile.scm

@@ -265,7 +265,8 @@ many readers as needed).")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/guile-ncurses/")
     (synopsis "Guile bindings to ncurses")
     (description
-     "guile-ncurses provides guile bindings to the ncurses library.")
+     "guile-ncurses provides Guile language bindings for the ncurses
+library.")
     (license lgpl3+)))
 
 (define-public mcron
@@ -286,10 +287,10 @@ many readers as needed).")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/mcron/")
     (synopsis "Run jobs at scheduled times")
     (description
-     "Mcron is a complete replacement for Vixie cron.  It is used to run
+     "GNU Mcron is a complete replacement for Vixie cron.  It is used to run
 tasks on a schedule, such as every hour or every Monday.  Mcron is written in
-Guile, so its configuration can be written in Scheme, however the original
+Guile, so its configuration can be written in Scheme; the original cron
-cron format is also supported.")
+format is also supported.")
     (license gpl3+)))
 
 (define-public guile-lib

gnu/packages/gv.scm

@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@
              ("zlib" ,zlib)))
    (synopsis "PostScript and PDF viewer using Ghostscript as a back-end")
    (description
-    "GV is a graphical user interface to the Ghostscript interpreter. With
+    "GNU GV is a graphical user interface to the Ghostscript interpreter.
-it, one can view and navigate through PostScript and PDF documents in X
+With it, one can view and navigate through PostScript and PDF documents in X
 Windows.")
    (license license:gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gv/")))

gnu/packages/help2man.scm

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/")
     (synopsis "Automatically generate man pages from program --help")
     (description
-     "help2man is a program that converts the output of standard \"--help\"
+     "GNU help2man is a program that converts the output of standard
-and \"--version\" command-line arguments into a manual page automatically.")
+\"--help\" and \"--version\" command-line arguments into a manual page
+automatically.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/idutils.scm

@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/idutils/")
     (synopsis "Identifier database utilities")
     (description
-     "ID Utils provides tools to create an index if textual tokens used in a
+     "The GNU idutils package includes tools to create an index of textual
-list of file names and to then query that index.  Thus, it allows the user
+tokens used in a list of file names and then to query that index.  Thus, it
-to, for example, find all the uses of a particular function in all files of a
+allows the user to, for example, find all the uses of a particular function
-large programming project.  In addition to handling textual tokens, it can
+in a large programming project.  In addition to handling textual tokens, it
-also handle numeric constants and the contents of character strings.")
+can also handle numeric constants and the contents of character strings.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/indent.scm

@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@
    (synopsis "Code reformatter")
    (description
     "Indent is a program that makes source code easier to read by
-reformatting it in a consistetn style.  It can change the style to one of
+reformatting it in a consistent style.  It can change the style to one of
 several different styles such as GNU, BSD or K&R.  It has some flexibility to
-deal with incomplete or malformed syntax.")
+deal with incomplete or malformed syntax.  GNU indent offers several
+extensions over the standard utility.")
    (license license:gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/indent/")))

gnu/packages/libidn.scm

@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@
 ;; FIXME: No Java and C# libraries are currently built.
    (synopsis "Internationalized string processing library")
    (description
-    "The GNU IDN Libary is an implementation of the Stringprep, Punycode
+    "libidn is a library implementing of the Stringprep, Punycode and IDNA
-and IDNA specifications.  These are used to encode and decode
+specifications.  These are used to encode and decode internationalized domain
-internationalized domain names.  It includes native C, C# and Java libraries.")
+names.  It includes native C, C# and Java libraries.")
    (license lgpl2.1+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/")))

gnu/packages/libsigsegv.scm

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
                     %standard-phases))
         '()))
    (description
-    "libsigsegv is a library to handle page faults, which occur when a
+    "GNU libsigsegv is a library to handle page faults, which occur when a
 program tries to access an unavailable region of memory, in user mode.  By
 catching and handling page faults, the program can implement pageable virtual
 memory, stack overflow handlers, and so on.")

gnu/packages/libunistring.scm

@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (synopsis "C library for manipulating Unicode strings")
    (description
-    "Libunistring is a library providing functions to manipulate Unicode
+    "GNU libunistring is a library providing functions to manipulate
-strings and for manipulating C strings according to the Unicode standard.")
+Unicode strings and for manipulating C strings according to the Unicode
+standard.")
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libunistring/")
    (license lgpl3+)))

gnu/packages/linux.scm

@@ -210,8 +210,8 @@
        #:tests? #f))
     (synopsis "100% free redistribution of a cleaned Linux kernel")
     (description
-     "Linux Libre is a free (as in freedom) variant of the Linux kernel. It
+     "GNU Linux-Libre is a free (as in freedom) variant of the Linux kernel.
-has been modified to remove any non-free binary blobs.")
+It has been modified to remove all non-free binary blobs.")
     (license gpl2)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/linux-libre/"))))
 

gnu/packages/lsh.scm

@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ basis for almost any application.")
     (home-page "http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/lsh/")
     (synopsis "GNU implementation of the Secure Shell (ssh) protocols")
     (description
-     "lsh is a free implementation of the SSH version 2 protocol.  It is
+     "GNU lsh is a free implementation of the SSH version 2 protocol.  It is
 used to create a secure line of communication between two computers,
 providing shell access to the server system from the client.  It provides
 both the server daemon and the client application, as well as tools for

gnu/packages/m4.scm

@@ -57,9 +57,9 @@
    (synopsis "Macro processor")
    (description
     "GNU M4 is an implementation of the M4 macro language, which features
-some extensions over other implementations.  It is used as a macro processor,
+some extensions over other implementations, some of which are required by GNU
-which means it processes text, expanding macros as it encounters them.  It
+Autoconf.  It is used as a macro processor, which means it processes text,
-also has some built-in functionns, for example to run shell commands or to do
+expanding macros as it encounters them.  It also has some built-in functions,
-arithmetic.")
+for example to run shell commands or to do arithmetic.")
    (license gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/m4/")))

gnu/packages/mail.scm

@@ -86,11 +86,11 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/mailutils/")
     (synopsis "Utilities and library for reading and serving mail")
     (description
-     "Mailutils is a \"swiss army knife of electronic mail handling.\"  It is
+     "GNU Mailutils is a collection of programs for managing, viewing and
-a suite of programs for managing, viewing and processing e-mail.  It contains
+processing electronic mail.  It contains both utilities and server daemons
-both utilities and server daemons and all operate in a protocol-agnostic way.
+and all operate in a protocol-agnostic way.  The underlying libraries are
- The underlying libraries are also made available, making adding mail
+also available, simplifying the addition of mail capabilities to new
-capabilities to new software simple.")
+software.")
     (license
      ;; Libraries are under LGPLv3+, and programs under GPLv3+.
      (list gpl3+ lgpl3+))))

gnu/packages/maths.scm

@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (synopsis "Conversion between thousands of scales")
    (description
-    "Units is a program for converting measured quantities between units of
+    "GNU Units converts between measured quantities between units of
 measure.  It can handle scale changes through adaptive usage of standard
-scale prefixes (i.e. micro-, kilo-, etc.).  It can also handle nonlinear
+scale prefixes (micro-, kilo-, etc.).  It can also handle nonlinear
-conversions such as Fahrenheit to Celcius.  Its interpreter is powerful
+conversions such as Fahrenheit to Celsius.  Its interpreter is powerful
 enough to be used effectively as a scientific calculator.")
    (license license:gpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/units/")))
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ numbers.")
     (arguments
      `(#:configure-flags '("--with-gmp")))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/glpk/")
-    (synopsis "NU Linear Programming Kit, supporting the MathProg language")
+    (synopsis "GNU Linear Programming Kit, supporting the MathProg language")
     (description
      "GLPK is a C library for solving large-scale linear programming (LP),
 mixed integer programming (MIP), and other related problems.  It supports the
@@ -154,12 +154,12 @@ LP/MIP solver is included in the package.")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/")
     (synopsis "Statistical analysis")
     (description
-     "PSPP is a statistical analysis program.  It can perform descriptive
+     "GNU PSPP is a statistical analysis program.  It can perform
-statistics, T-tests, linear regression and non-parametric tests.  It features
+descriptive statistics, T-tests, linear regression and non-parametric tests. 
-both a graphical interface as well as command-line input. PSPP is designed to
+It features both a graphical interface as well as command-line input. PSPP is
-interoperate with Gnumeric, LibreOffice and OpenOffice.  Data can be imported
+designed to interoperate with Gnumeric, LibreOffice and OpenOffice.  Data can
-from spreadsheets, text files and database sources and it can be output in
+be imported from spreadsheets, text files and database sources and it can be
-text, Postscript, PDF or HTML.")
+output in text, PostScript, PDF or HTML.")
     (license license:gpl3+)))
 
 (define-public lapack

gnu/packages/multiprecision.scm

@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ cryptography and computational algebra.")
    (propagated-inputs `(("gmp" ,gmp)))            ; <mpfr.h> refers to <gmp.h>
    (synopsis "C library for arbitrary precision floating-point arithmetic")
    (description
-    "MPFR is a C library for performing multiple-precision, floating-point
+    "GNU MPFR is a C library for performing multiple-precision,
-computations with correct rounding.")
+floating-point computations with correct rounding.")
    (license lgpl3+)
    (home-page "http://www.mpfr.org/")))
 

gnu/packages/nano.scm

@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.nano-editor.org/")
     (synopsis "Small, user-friendly console text editor")
     (description
-     "nano is a small and simple text editor.  In addition to basic
+     "GNU Nano is a small and simple text editor.  In addition to basic
 editing, it supports interactive search and replace, go to line and column
 number, auto-indentation and more.")
     (license gpl3+))) ; some files are under GPLv2+

gnu/packages/ncurses.scm

@@ -130,9 +130,10 @@
      (self-native-input? #t)                      ; for `tic'
      (synopsis "Terminal emulation (termcap, terminfo) library")
      (description
-      "Ncurses is a library which provides capabilities to write text to a
+      "GNU Ncurses is a library which provides capabilities to write text to
-terminal in a terminal-independent manner.  It supports pads and color as
+a terminal in a terminal-independent manner.  It supports pads and color as
 well as multiple highlights and forms characters.  It is typically used to
-implement user interfaces for command-line applications.")
+implement user interfaces for command-line applications.  The accompanying
+ncursesw library provides wide character support.")
      (license x11)
      (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/ncurses/"))))

gnu/packages/nettle.scm

@@ -39,9 +39,10 @@
     (inputs `(("m4" ,m4)))
     (propagated-inputs `(("gmp" ,gmp)))
     (home-page "http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/")
-    (synopsis "C library for low-level crytographic functionality")
+    (synopsis "C library for low-level cryptographic functionality")
     (description
-     "Nettle is a low-level cryptographic library.  It is designed to fit in
+     "GNU Nettle is a low-level cryptographic library.  It is designed to
-easily in almost any context.  It can be easily included in cryptographic
+fit in easily in almost any context.  It can be easily included in
-toolkits for object-oriented languages or in applications themselves.")
+cryptographic toolkits for object-oriented languages or in applications
+themselves.")
     (license gpl2+)))

gnu/packages/ocrad.scm

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/ocrad/")
     (synopsis "Optical character recognition based on feature extraction")
     (description
-     "Ocrad is an optical character recognition program based on a feature
+     "GNU Ocrad is an optical character recognition program based on a
-extraction method.  It can read images in PBM, PGM or PPM formats and it
+feature extraction method.  It can read images in PBM, PGM or PPM formats and
-produces text in 8-bit or UTF-8 formats.")
+it produces text in 8-bit or UTF-8 formats.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/oggvorbis.scm

@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@ compressed video format.")
     (home-page "https://gnu.org/software/speex")
     (synopsis "Library for patent-free audio compression format")
     (description
-     "Speex is a patent-free audio compression codec specially designed for
+     "GNU Speex is a patent-free audio compression codec specially designed
-speech.  It is well-adapted to internet applications, such as VoIP. It
+for speech.  It is well-adapted to internet applications, such as VoIP.  It
 features compression of different bands in the same bitstream, intensity
 stereo encoding, and voice activity detection.")
     ;; 'src/getopt.c' is under LGPLv2+

gnu/packages/package-management.scm

@@ -87,20 +87,12 @@
                        (base32
                         "0b5a2ngd9a7z2wnm01wc27rlwb61x854ndadxwmj8v8lrl6j2hxw"))))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/guix")
-    (synopsis "Managing installed software packages and versions")
+    (synopsis "Functional package manager for installed software packages and versions")
     (description
-     "GNU Guix is a purely functional package manager for the GNU system,
+     "GNU Guix is a functional package manager for the GNU system, and is
-and a distribution thereof.
+also a distribution thereof.  It includes a virtual machine image. Besides
-
+the usual package management features, it also supports transactional
-In addition to standard package management features, Guix supports
+upgrades and roll-backs, per-user profiles, and much more. It is based on the
-transactional upgrades and roll-backs, unprivileged package management,
+Nix package manager.")
-per-user profiles, and garbage collection.
-
-It provides Guile Scheme APIs, including high-level embedded domain-specific
-languages (EDSLs), to describe how packages are built and composed.
-
-A user-land free software distribution for GNU/Linux comes as part of Guix.
-
-Guix is based on the Nix package manager.")
     (license gpl3+)))
 

gnu/packages/parted.scm

@@ -59,6 +59,6 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/")
     (synopsis "Disk partition editor")
     (description
-     "Parted is a tool for creating and manipulating disk partition tables.
+     "GNU Parted is a package for creating and manipulating disk partition
-It consists of a library and a command-line tool for performing these tasks.")
+tables.  It includes a library and command-line utility.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/plotutils.scm

@@ -46,9 +46,9 @@
      "http://www.gnu.org/software/plotutils/")
     (synopsis "Plotting utilities and library")
     (description
-     "Plotutils is a collection of utilities for plotting and working with
+     "GNU Plotutils is a package for plotting and working with 2D graphics. 
-2D graphics.  It includes a library, libplot, for C and C++ for exporting 2D
+It includes a library, \"libplot\", for C and C++ for exporting 2D vector
-vector graphics in many file formats.  It also has support for 2D vector
+graphics in many file formats.  It also has support for 2D vector graphics
-graphics animations.  The package also contains command-line programs for
+animations.  The package also contains command-line programs for plotting
-plotting scientific data.")
+scientific data.")
     (license gpl2+)))

gnu/packages/pth.scm

@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/pth")
     (synopsis "Portable thread library")
     (description
-     "Pth is a portable library providing non-preemptive, priority-based
+     "GNU Pth is a portable library providing non-preemptive, priority-based
 scheduling for multiple execution threads.  Each thread has its own
 program-counter, run-time stack, signal mask and errno variable. Threads are
 scheduled in a cooperative way, rather than in the standard preemptive way,
 such that they are managed according to priority and events.  However, Pth
-also features emulation of POSIX.1c threads (\"Pthreads\") for backwards
+also features emulation of POSIX.1c threads (\"pthreads\") for backwards
 compatibility.")
     (license lgpl2.1+)))

gnu/packages/readline.scm

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
                              %standard-phases)))
       (synopsis "Edit command lines while typing, with history support")
       (description
-       "Readline is a libary that allows users to edit command lines as they
+       "The GNU readline library allows users to edit command lines as they
 are typed in.  It can maintain a searchable history of previously entered
 commands, letting you easily recall, edit and re-enter past commands.  It
 features both Emacs-like and vi-like keybindings, making its usage

gnu/packages/recutils.scm

@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
              ("check" ,check)))
    (synopsis "Manipulate plain text files as databases")
    (description
-    "Recutils is a set of tools and libraries for creating and
+    "GNU Recutils is a set of tools and libraries for creating and
 manipulating text-based, human-editable databases.  Despite being text-based,
 databases created with Recutils carry all of the expected features such as
 unique fields, primary keys, time stamps and more. Many different field types

gnu/packages/rush.scm

@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/rush/")
     (synopsis "Restricted user (login) shell")
     (description
-     "Rush is a restricted user shell, for systems on which users are to be
+     "GNU Rush is a restricted user shell, for systems on which users are to
-provided with only limited functionality or resources. Administrators set
+be provided with only limited functionality or resources. Administrators set
 user rights via a configuration file which can be used to limit, for example,
 the commands that can be executed, CPU time, or virtual memory usage.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/scheme.scm

@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/mit-scheme/")
     (synopsis "Scheme implementation with integrated editor and debugger")
     (description
-     "MIT/GNU Scheme is an implementation of the Scheme programming
+     "GNU/MIT Scheme is an implementation of the Scheme programming
 language.  It provides an interpreter, a compiler and a debugger.  It also
 features an integrated Emacs-like editor and a large runtime library.")
     (license gpl2+)))

gnu/packages/screen.scm

@@ -42,10 +42,10 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/")
     (synopsis "Full-screen window manager providing multiple terminals")
     (description
-     "Screen is a terminal window manager that multiplexes a single terminal
+     "GNU Screen is a terminal window manager that multiplexes a single
-between several processes.  The virtual terminals each provide features such
+terminal between several processes.  The virtual terminals each provide
-as a scroll-back buffer and a copy-and-paste mechanism.  Screen then manages
+features such as a scroll-back buffer and a copy-and-paste mechanism.  Screen
-the different virtual terminals, allowing you to easily switch between them,
+then manages the different virtual terminals, allowing you to easily switch
-to detach them from the current session, or even splitting the view to show
+between them, to detach them from the current session, or even splitting the
-two terminals at once.")
+view to show two terminals at once.")
     (license gpl2+)))

gnu/packages/shishi.scm

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/shishi/")
     (synopsis "Implementation of the Kerberos 5 network security system")
     (description
-     "Shishi is a free implementation of the Kerberos 5 network security
+     "GNU Shishi is a free implementation of the Kerberos 5 network security
 system.  It is used to allow non-secure network nodes to communicate in a
 secure manner through client-server mutual authentication via tickets.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/system.scm

@@ -53,10 +53,10 @@
               ("guile" ,guile-2.0)))
     (synopsis "Daemon managing daemons")
     (description
-     "DMD is a \"daemon-managing daemon,\" meaning it manages the execution of
+     "GNU DMD is a daemon-managing daemon, meaning that it manages the
-system services, replacing similar functionality found in typical init
+execution of system services, replacing similar functionality found in
-systems.  It provides dependency-handling through a convenient interface and
+typical init systems.  It provides dependency-handling through a convenient
-is based on GNU Guile.")
+interface and is based on GNU Guile.")
     (license gpl3+)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/dmd/")))
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ application (for console or X terminals) and requires ncurses.")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/pies/")
     (synopsis "Program invocation and execution supervisor")
     (description
-     "Pies is a program that supervises the invocation and executiton of
+     "GNU pies is a program that supervises the invocation and execution of
 other programs.  It reads the list of programs to be started from its
 configuration file, executes them, and then monitors their status,
 re-executing them as necessary.")

gnu/packages/texinfo.scm

@@ -44,8 +44,9 @@
     (synopsis "The GNU documentation format")
     (description
      "Texinfo is the official documentation format of the GNU project.  It
-uses a single source file containing TeX-like formatting commands to produce
+uses a single source file using explicit commands to produce a final document
-a final document in any of several supported output formats, such as HTML or
+in any of several supported output formats, such as HTML or PDF.  This
-PDF.  This package includes both the tools necessary to produce info
+package includes both the tools necessary to produce Info documents from
-documents from their source as well as the command- line info reader.")
+their source and the command-line Info reader.  The emphasis of the language
+is on expressing the content semantically, avoiding physical markup commands.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/unrtf.scm

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/unrtf")
     (synopsis "Convert Rich Text Format documents to other formats")
     (description
-     "UnRTF is a program for converting text documents from RTF to HTML,
+     "GNU UnRTF converts text documents from RTF to HTML, LaTeX, or troff. 
-LaTeX, or troff macros.  It supports changes in font characteristics,
+It supports changes in font characteristics, underlines and strikethroughs,
-underlines and strikethroughs, superscripts and subscripts, and more.")
+superscripts and subscripts, and more.")
     (license gpl2+)))

gnu/packages/version-control.scm

@@ -64,12 +64,11 @@
        #:python ,python-2)) ; Python 3 apparently not yet supported, see
                             ; https://answers.launchpad.net/bzr/+question/229048
     (home-page "https://gnu.org/software/bazaar")
-    (synopsis "Decentralized revision control system")
+    (synopsis "Version control system supporting both distributed and centralized workflows")
     (description
-     "GNU Bazaar is a distributed version control system, which supports both
+     "GNU Bazaar is a version control system that allows you to record
-central version control and distributed version control.  Developers can
+changes to project files over time. It supports both a distributed workflow
-organize their workspace in whichever way they want.  It is possible to work
+as well as the classic centralized workflow.")
-from a command line or use a GUI application.")
     (license gpl2+)))
 
 (define-public git
@@ -276,9 +275,11 @@ projects, from individuals to large-scale enterprise operations.")
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/")
     (synopsis "Per-file local revision control system")
     (description
-     "RCS is the Revision Control System.  It is used to manage multiple
+     "RCS is the original Revision Control System.  It works on a
-revisions of files.  Revisions are stored as reverse differences generated by
+file-by-file basis, in contrast to subsequent version control systems such as
-GNU Diffutils.  RCS also handles identifying and merging revisions.")
+CVS, Subversion, and Git.  This can make it suitable for system
+administration files, for example, which are often inherently local to one
+machine.")
     (license gpl3+)))
 
 (define-public cvs
@@ -330,6 +331,6 @@ RCS, PRCS, and Aegis packages.")
 vc-dwim is a tool that simplifies the task of maintaining a ChangeLog and
 using version control at the same time, for example by printing a reminder
 when a file change has been described in the ChangeLog but the file has not
-been added to the VCS.  vc-chlog scans changed files and generates
+been added to the VC.  vc-chlog scans changed files and generates
 standards-compliant ChangeLog entries based on the changes that it detects.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/wdiff.scm

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/wdiff/")
     (synopsis "Word difference finder")
     (description
-     "Wdiff is a front-end to the diff program from Diffutils that allows
+     "GNU Wdiff is a front-end to the diff program from Diffutils that
-you to compare files on a word-by-word basis, where a word is anything
+allows you to compare files on a word-by-word basis, where a word is anything
 between whitespace.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/wget.scm

@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/")
     (synopsis "Non-interactive command-line utility for downloading files")
     (description
-     "Wget is a non-interactive tool for fetching files using the HTTP,
+     "GNU Wget is a non-interactive tool for fetching files using the HTTP,
 HTTPS and FTP protocols.  It can resume interrupted downloads, use filename
 wild cards, supports proxies and cookies, and it can convert absolute links
 in downloaded documents to relative links.")

gnu/packages/which.scm

@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     (home-page "https://gnu.org/software/which/")
     (synopsis "Find full path of shell commands")
     (description
-     "which is a program that prints the full paths of executables on a
+     "The which program finds the location of executables in PATH, with a
-system.")
+variety of options.  It is an alternative to the shell \"type\" built-in
+command.")
     (license gpl3+))) ; some files are under GPLv2+

gnu/packages/xnee.scm

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/xnee/")
     (synopsis "Record, replay and distribute user actions under X11")
     (description
-     "Xnee is a program that can record, replay and distribute user actions
+     "GNU Xnee is a program that can record, replay and distribute user
-in X11.  It can be used to automate user interactions for testing or
+actions in X11.  It can be used to automate user interactions for testing or
 demonstration purposes.")
     (license gpl3+)))

gnu/packages/zile.scm

@@ -59,6 +59,6 @@
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/zile/")
     (synopsis "Zile is lossy Emacs, a lightweight Emacs clone")
     (description
-     "Zile is a lightweight Emacs clone.  It usage is extremely similar to
+     "GNU Zile is a lightweight Emacs clone.  It usage is similar to the
-that of Emacs but it carries a much lighter feature set.")
+default Emacs configuration, but it carries a much lighter feature set.")
     (license gpl3+)))