RFC: deprecation of nve(4) in 10-STABLE and removal from 11-CURRENT

[David Chisnall]

On 6 Feb 2014, at 18:34, Julian H. Stacey <jhs at berklix.com> wrote:

> Best avoid the obscure word `Deprecated' in manuals:
>  It's not common/ plain English.  Maybe a geek import, or USA
>  dialect ?  It's not easily internationaly understood English.
>  Best make manuals easier for non native English speakers (& native
>  English too ;-).  I am British born & bred, whether in English
>  speaking circles in UK or Germany I never hear or read 'deprecated'
>  unless its in BSD context.  Few native English speakers I know will be
>  immediately sure of the meaning, it's too obscure.

I'd strongly disagree with this.  Deprecated is, perhaps, only in common use as jargon, but it's very widespread within the tech field.  I don't think I've ever read an API reference that doesn't include the word, for example, and it's even a keyword in many code documentation tools.  For example, JavaDoc supports @deprecated and gcc / clang include an __attribute__((deprecated)) that generates a compile-time warning whenever anyone tries to call a deprecated function.  

I've not come across the word outside of tech uses, but I've also not come across the term network interface outside of tech circles.  Deprecated, in this use, may be jargon, but it's very widespread jargon, and requesting it not be used sounds like asking for words like driver or processor also be avoided.

David
(Also a native English speaker, although familiar with the unofficial fork from Leftpondia)