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

[Diego Biurrun]

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

Diego