Corrected grammatical errors, polished English idiom. Tried

to introduce some variety by rephrasing "This package contains ...".

1 files changed, 80 insertions, 80 deletions

diff --git a/prologue/why.xml b/prologue/why.xml
index 2ce8141df..4a002484e 100644
--- a/prologue/why.xml
+++ b/prologue/why.xml
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@
 
   <title>Rationale for Packages in the Book</title>
 
-    <para>As stated earlier, the goal of LFS is to build a complete and usable
-    foundation-level system.  This includes all packages needed to replicate
-    itself while providing a relatively minimal base from which to customize
-    a more complete system based on the choices of the user.  This does not
+    <para>The goal of LFS is to build a complete and usable
+    foundation-level system&mdash;including all the packages needed to replicate
+    itself&mdash;and providing a relatively minimal base from which to customize
+    a more complete system based on the user's choices.  This does not
     mean that LFS is the smallest system possible.  Several important packages
-    are included that are not strictly required.  The lists below document the
-    rationale for each package in the book.</para>
+    are included that are not, strictly speaking, required.  The list below documents the
+    reasons each package in the book has been included.</para>
 
     <itemizedlist>
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
         <para>Acl</para>
 
         <para>This package contains utilities to administer Access
-        Control Lists, which are used to define more fine-grained
+        Control Lists, which are used to define fine-grained
         discretionary access rights for files and directories.
         </para>
       </listitem>
@@ -32,26 +32,26 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Attr</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for administering
-        extended attributes on filesystem objects.
+        <para>This package contains programs for managing
+        extended attributes on file system objects.
         </para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Autoconf</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for producing shell scripts that
+        <para>This package supplies programs for producing shell scripts that
         can automatically configure source code from a developer's
-        template. It is often needed to rebuild a package after updates
-        to the build procedures.</para>
+        template. It is often needed to rebuild a package after
+        the build procedure has been updated.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Automake</para>
 
         <para>This package contains programs for generating Make files from
-        a template. It is often needed to rebuild a package after updates
-        to the build procedures.</para>
+        a template. It is often needed to rebuild a package after
+        the build procedure has been updated.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -60,29 +60,29 @@
         <para>This package satisfies an LSB core requirement to provide
         a Bourne Shell interface to the system.  It was chosen over
         other shell packages because of its common usage and extensive
-        capabilities beyond basic shell functions.</para>
+        capabilities.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Bc</para>
 
         <para>This package provides an arbitrary precision numeric processing language.
-        It satisfies a requirement needed when building the Linux kernel.</para>
+        It satisfies a requirement for building the Linux kernel.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Binutils</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a linker, an assembler, and other
+        <para>This package supplies a linker, an assembler, and other
         tools for handling object files. The programs in this package are
-        needed to compile most of the packages in an LFS system and beyond.</para>
+        needed to compile most of the packages in an LFS system.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Bison</para>
 
         <para>This package contains the GNU version of yacc (Yet Another
-        Compiler Compiler) needed to build several other LFS programs.</para>
+        Compiler Compiler) needed to build several of the LFS programs.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Check</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a test harness for other programs.</para>
+        <para>This package provides a test harness for other programs.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -111,14 +111,14 @@
         <para>D-Bus</para>
 
         <para>This package contains programs to implement a message bus system,
-        which a simple way for applications to talk to one another.
+        a simple way for applications to talk to one another.
         </para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>DejaGNU</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a framework for testing other programs.</para>
+        <para>This package supplies a framework for testing other programs.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>E2fsprogs</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains the utilities for handling the ext2, ext3
+        <para>This package supplies utilities for handling the ext2, ext3
         and ext4 file systems.  These are the most common and thoroughly
         tested file systems that Linux supports.</para>
       </listitem>
@@ -141,15 +141,15 @@
         <para>Eudev</para>
 
         <para>This package is a device manager.  It dynamically controls the ownership,
-        permissions, names, and symbolic links of devices in the /dev directory as
-        devices are added or removed from the system.
+        permissions, names, and symbolic links of devices in the /dev directory when
+        devices are added to or removed from the system.
         </para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Expat</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a relatively small XML parsing library.  It
+        <para>This package yields a relatively small XML parsing library.  It
         is required by the XML::Parser Perl module.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Findutils</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs to find files in a file system.
+        <para>This package provides programs to find files in a file system.
         It is used in many packages' build scripts.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Gawk</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for manipulating text files.
+        <para>This package supplies programs for manipulating text files.
         It is the GNU version of awk (Aho-Weinberg-Kernighan). It is used in
         many other packages' build scripts.</para>
       </listitem>
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>GCC</para>
 
-        <para>This package is the Gnu Compiler Collection.  It contains the
+        <para>This is the Gnu Compiler Collection.  It contains the
         C and C++ compilers as well as several others not built by LFS.
         </para>
       </listitem>
@@ -210,8 +210,8 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Gettext</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains utilities and libraries for
-        internationalization and localization of numerous packages.</para>
+        <para>This package provides utilities and libraries for
+        the internationalization and localization of many packages.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -224,15 +224,15 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>GMP</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains math libraries that provide useful functions
-        for arbitrary precision arithmetic.  It is required to build GCC.</para>
+        <para>This package supplies math libraries that provide useful functions
+        for arbitrary precision arithmetic.  It is needed to build GCC.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Gperf</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a program that generates a perfect hash
-        function from a key set. It is required for Eudev.</para>
+        <para>This package produces a program that generates a perfect hash
+        function from a set of keys. It is required by Eudev.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -245,15 +245,15 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Groff</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for processing and formatting text.
+        <para>This package contributes programs for processing and formatting text.
         One important function of these programs is to format man pages.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>GRUB</para>
 
-        <para>This package is the Grand Unified Boot Loader.  It is one
-        of several boot loaders available, but is the most flexible.
+        <para>This is the Grand Unified Boot Loader.  It is 
+        the most flexible of several boot loaders available.
         </para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -261,8 +261,8 @@
         <para>Gzip</para>
 
         <para>This package contains programs for compressing and
-        decompressing files. It is needed to decompress many packages in LFS
-        and beyond.</para>
+        decompressing files. It is needed to decompress many packages
+        in LFS.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -275,14 +275,14 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Inetutils</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for basic network
+        <para>This package supplies programs for basic network
         administration.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Intltool</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains tools for extracting translatable
+        <para>This package contributes tools for extracting translatable
         strings from source files.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -304,14 +304,14 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Kbd</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains key-table files, keyboard utilities
+        <para>This package produces key-table files, keyboard utilities
         for non-US keyboards, and a number of console fonts.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Kmod</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs needed to administer Linux
+        <para>This package supplies programs needed to administer Linux
         kernel modules.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -319,8 +319,8 @@
         <para>Less</para>
 
         <para>This package contains a very nice text file viewer that
-        allows scrolling up or down when viewing a file. It is also used by
-        Man-DB for viewing manpages.</para>
+        allows scrolling up or down when viewing a file. It is also used 
+        when viewing manpages.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Libpipeline</para>
 
-        <para>The Libpipeline package contains a library for manipulating
+        <para>The Libpipeline package supplies a library for manipulating
         pipelines of subprocesses in a flexible and convenient way. It is
         required by the Man-DB package.</para>
       </listitem>
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@
         <para>Libtool</para>
 
         <para>This package contains the GNU generic library support
-        script. It wraps the complexity of using shared libraries in a
+        script. It wraps the complexity of using shared libraries into a
         consistent, portable interface.  It is needed by the test
         suites in other LFS packages.</para>
       </listitem>
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>M4</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a general text macro processor useful
+        <para>This package provides a general text macro processor useful
         as a build tool for other programs.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -404,14 +404,14 @@
 
         <para>This package contains programs for finding and viewing man pages.
         It was chosen instead of the <application>man</application> package
-        due to superior internationalization capabilities.  It supplies
+        because of its superior internationalization capabilities.  It supplies
         the man program.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Man-pages</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains the actual contents of the basic
+        <para>This package provides the actual contents of the basic
         Linux man pages.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -419,8 +419,8 @@
         <para>Meson</para>
 
         <para>This package provides a software tool for automating the building
-        of software. The main goal for Meson is to minimize the amount of time
-        that software developers need to spend configuring their build
+        of software. The main goal of Meson is to minimize the amount of time
+        that software developers need to spend configuring a build
         system.  It's required to build Systemd, as well as many BLFS
         packages.</para>
 
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>MPC</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains functions for the arithmetic of complex
+        <para>This package supplies arithmetic functions for complex
         numbers. It is required by GCC.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Ninja</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains a small build system with a focus on speed.
+        <para>This package furnishes a small build system with a focus on speed.
         It is designed to have its input files generated by a higher-level build
         system, and to run builds as fast as possible.
         This package is required by Meson.</para>
@@ -456,14 +456,14 @@
         <para>This package contains libraries for terminal-independent
         handling of character screens.  It is often used to provide
         cursor control for a menuing system. It is needed by a number of
-        packages in LFS.</para>
+        the packages in LFS.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Openssl</para>
 
         <para>This package provides management tools and libraries relating to
-        cryptography. These are useful for providing cryptographic functions to
+        cryptography. These supply cryptographic functions to
         other packages, including the Linux kernel.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -502,7 +502,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Psmisc</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for displaying information
+        <para>This package produces programs for displaying information
         about running processes. These programs are useful for system
         administration.</para>
       </listitem>
@@ -511,14 +511,14 @@
         <para>Python 3</para>
 
         <para>This package provides an interpreted language that has a design
-        philosophy that emphasizes code readability.</para>
+        philosophy emphasizing code readability.</para>
 
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Readline</para>
 
-        <para>This package is a set of libraries that offers command-line
+        <para>This package is a set of libraries that offer command-line
         editing and history capabilities.  It is used by Bash.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@
         <para>Sed</para>
 
         <para>This package allows editing of text without opening it in a
-        text editor. It is also needed by most LFS packages' configure
+        text editor. It is also needed by many LFS packages' configure
         scripts.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -534,14 +534,14 @@
         <para>Shadow</para>
 
         <para>This package contains programs for handling passwords
-        in a secure way.</para>
+        securely.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem revision="sysv">
         <para>Sysklogd</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for logging system messages,
-        such as those given by the kernel or daemon processes when unusual
+        <para>This package supplies programs for logging system messages,
+        such as those emitted by the kernel or daemon processes when unusual
         events occur.</para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@
 
         <para>This package provides an <application>init</application> program
         and several additional boot and system control capabilities as an
-        alternative to Sysvinit.  It is used by many commercial distributions.
+        alternative to Sysvinit.  It is used by many Linux distributions.
         </para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@
         <para>Sysvinit</para>
 
         <para>This package provides the <application>init</application>
-        program, which is the parent of all other processes on the Linux
+        program, the parent of all the other processes on a running Linux
         system. </para>
       </listitem>
 
@@ -566,20 +566,20 @@
         <para>Tar</para>
 
         <para>This package provides archiving and extraction capabilities
-        of virtually all packages used in LFS.</para>
+        of virtually all the packages used in LFS.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Tcl</para>
 
         <para>This package contains the Tool Command Language used
-        in many test suites in LFS packages.</para>
+        in many test suites.</para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
         <para>Texinfo</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains programs for reading, writing, and
+        <para>This package supplies programs for reading, writing, and
         converting info pages.  It is used in the installation
         procedures of many LFS packages.</para>
       </listitem>
@@ -593,20 +593,20 @@
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
-        <para>Wheel</para>
-
-        <para>This package contains a Python module that is the
-        reference implementation of the Python wheel packaging standard.
-        </para>
-      </listitem>
-
-      <listitem>
         <para>Vim</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains an editor. It was chosen because of its
+        <para>This package provides an editor. It was chosen because of its
         compatibility with the classic vi editor and its huge number of powerful
         capabilities.  An editor is a very personal choice for
-        many users and any other editor could be substituted if desired.</para>
+        many users. Any other editor can be substituted, if you wish.</para>
+      </listitem>
+      
+      <listitem>
+        <para>Wheel</para>
+
+        <para>This package supplies a Python module that is the
+        reference implementation of the Python wheel packaging standard.
+        </para>
       </listitem>
 
       <listitem>
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@
       <listitem>
         <para>Zstd</para>
 
-        <para>This package contains compression and decompression routines
+        <para>This package supplies compression and decompression routines
         used by some programs. It provides high compression ratios and a very
         wide range of compression / speed trade-offs.</para>
       </listitem>