See percent.

Lowercase with periods and a preceding space.

Do not use to refer to information mentioned previously. When documents are converted to another format or layout, the information may no longer be above.

Spell out acronyms or initialization before using them in text, e.g., Embedded DevKit (EDK). Unless the acronym or initials stand for a proper noun, use sentence case for the spelled-out version, e.g., central processing unit (CPU).

To form the plural of an acronym, add a trailing, lowercase s with no apostrophe, e.g., ROMs, PINs.

When you affect something, it produces an effect.

Do not capitalize this, as in "the alpha release of Product Foo."

Do not use this to mean an alternative to something. Alternate is a verb that means to change between two states or options. As an adjective, it means every second (alternating) thing in a series. If you mean another way or option, use alternative.

Avoid if possible. One or the other nearly always conveys the real meaning. If it doesn’t, try a structure like, Have some bacon, eggs, or both.

When used as a proper name, use the capitalization of the product or project, such as GNUPro, Source-Navigator, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. When used as a command, use lowercase as appropriate, such as To start GCC, type gcc.

Note: vi is always lowercase.

Assure suggests mental comfort. Example: I assured my future father-in-law that I would eventually find a job. Also see ensure and insure.

Avoid using backwards unless you are stating that something has backwards compatibility.

Do not use. For example, removing the word basically in the following sentence strengthens it: This is how it is basically done.

Do not use since to mean because. Use because to refer to a reason. Use since to refer to the passage of time.

Do not use to refer to information mentioned below. When documents are converted to another format or layout, the information may no longer be below.

Plural: BIOSes

Descriptive term, not a proper noun, so not capitalized.

Bits per second is abbreviated bps. Bytes per second is abbreviated Bps. Also see bandwidth.

The language is English, and the place is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, aka the UK. Using Britain/British is usually wrong and to some implies a specific subjective statement about the state of Northern Ireland.

Lists should always consist of more than two items. Use bullets for a list in which the order of items is unimportant. Use a numbered list only when the order is important, as in a series of steps.

Use can to describe actions or conditions that are possible. Use may only to describe situations where permission is being given.

If it’s not the official name of a real product or service, don’t capitalize it. Not even if it seems important. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word in headlines, titles, subtitles, and other call-out text.

When referring to the change directory command, use cd. When referring to a compact disk, use CD. The plural is CDs.

Use a lowercase c when referring to cloud or cloud computing in a general sense.

Use serial commas. A serial comma is the comma before the and in a series of three or more items: Item 1, item 2, and item 3. Because in some cases it is necessary to use a serial comma to avoid confusion, it is best to always use it for consistency. An exception to this rule is in press releases, where it is traditional and preferred not to use serial commas.

Avoid when writing policy manuals or other more formal types of manuals. Contractions may also cause problems for documents that are translated, so avoid them in global content.

Use Ctrl instead, such as To save the program, press Ctrl+Z.

Use the following format: $1,500 USD, omitting USD if it is clear that it is in US currency.

When possible, use em-dashes (—) with no space on either side. When full em-dashes aren’t available, use double-dashes with no spaces on either side--like this.

Use different from rather than different than.”

Compact disc, but diskette or hard disk.

The period during which a server, service, or other resource is unavailable.

Do not use DVD burner or CD burner (use CD writer in that case).

See later.

See affect.

Ensure means to make sure. See also assure and insure.

Do not use. See also basically.

Do not use them at the end of sentences. An exclamation point can be used when referring to a command, such as the bang (!) command.

Despite the alternative spelling used in Fibre Channel, fiber is the correct form to use in all other cases.

Avoid using forwards.

Stands for file transfer protocol. You may actually need to refer to SFTP, secure file transfer protocol. Use lowercase when referring to the command-line program.

When referring to the command, use g++. When referring to the program, use G++.

When referring to the command, use gas. When referring to the program, use GAS.

When referring to the command, use gcc. When referring to the program, use GCC.

When referring to the command, use gcj. When referring to the program, use GCJ.

When referring to the command, use gdb. When referring to the program, use GDB.

2 to the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes. Abbreviated GB.

(GNU’s Not UNIX)

Do not use. Instead, use printed.

Do not use. Reword to avoid.

Capitalize when used at the beginning of a sentence, but try to reword the sentence to avoid this.

Also see bandwidth.

i.e. means in other words. e.g. means for example. Add commas after each (e.g.,).

Illegal means prohibited by law, not incorrect or not permitted. You may be looking for the word invalid.

Do not use. Instead, simply say with.

Do not use nonsecure, non-secure, or unsecured.

Do not use installer.

Insure relates to monetary insurance. Also see assure and ensure.

Do not use Hammer, x86_64, or x86-64 as the name of this architecture. The correct term for AMD’s implementation of this architecture is AMD64.

Avoid using, as this is a substitute for showing the reader why something is of interest. For example, change It is interesting to note to Note.

Avoid this and similar phrases when describing a function.

Incorrect: SSH is designed to work with almost any kind of public key algorithm or encoding format.

Correct: SSH works with almost any kind of public key algorithm or encoding format.

Use sparingly and avoid when possible. For example, in a phrase like, Just point your browser to, omit the word just.

When referring to more recent versions of a product, package, or other software, use later. When referring to earlier versions, use earlier.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. It gets a registered trademark symbol on first use.

Keep the structure of bulleted lists equivalent and consistent. If one bullet is a verb phrase, they should all be verb phrases. If one is a complete sentence, they should all be complete sentences, etc.

Capitalize the first word of each bullet, unless it is obvious that it is just a list of items, such as a list of items like:

When the bulleted list items complete a sentence or are sentences themselves, use periods on each item. If they do not, or are simply a list of items (like the list above), no periods are necessary.

Use can to describe actions or conditions that are possible. Use may to describe situations where permission is being given.

MB is short for megabyte (1,000,000 or 1,048,576 bytes, depending on the context). Mb is short for megabit.

Do not use MS, MSFT or MicroSoft.

Abbreviate months and states according to AP. Months are abbreviated only if they are used in conjunction with a day. Example: The President visited in January 1999. or The President visited Jan. 12. Abbreviated months: Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Nov., Dec.

Subsequent references can be Firefox.

Subsequent references can be Thunderbird.

Hyphenate words with the prefix multi unless the dictionary or this guide says otherwise.

Hyphenate words with the prefix non unless the dictionary says otherwise.

Use insecure instead.

When a command or value is stated, use NULL. When stating that something is null, use null.

Write out numbers between one and nine.

Exceptions:

Use numerals for numbers 10 and greater, negative numbers, fractions, percentages, decimals, measurements, references to book sections (Chapter 3, Table 5, Page 11), and numbers less than 10 if they appear with numbers of 10 or greater (You answered 8 out of 14 questions correctly). Also use numerals when referring to code (such as x = 6) and release versions (Fedora 20).

Lists should always consist of more than two items. Use bullets for a list in which the order of items is unimportant. Use a numbered list only when the order is important, as in a series of steps.

Hyphenated when used as an adjective, as in on-site labs.

Do not use. A user becomes oriented to an environment.

When referring to something quantifiable, use more than instead.

When referring to program counter, use pc. The first instance must have the acronym defined, such as program counter (pc). When referring to a general computer, use PC.

Use the percent sign (%) whenever referring to numerical percentages.

Example: In a survey, 60% of users said they were satisfied with their technology solution.

Exception: Press releases and press blogs follow strict AP style, which spells out 'percent' in all uses.

Do not use. Instead of Please refer to the Getting Started Guide, write, Refer to the Getting Started Guide.

As a noun, plug-in is a hardware or software module that adds a specific feature or service to a larger system.

See a.m.

Do not use PPC or variants.

Don’t use close proximity. It’s redundant.

Place the punctuation inside the quotes, said the editor. Except in rare instances, use only said or says for quotes. Other words liked noted or quipped get in the way of the quote itself and tend to editorialize.

Place said first, followed by the name: Friends, freedom, features, first, said Beefy Miracle.

Irregardless is not a word.

Write Red Hat. Not Red Hat, Inc. (The only exceptions to this rule are when the company itself is writing legal or financial statements.) Red and Hat should be on the same line together. Don’t let them be separated by a line break.

Pronoun and verb agreement: A company is singular in the US. In other words, Red Hat is an it, not a they.

Do not use. See basically.

See because.

Do not use.

Use when referring to white space, such as Ensure there is a space between each command. Use spacebar when referring to the keyboard key.

Use only one space between sentences. Use no spaces around an em-dash.

Use the two-letter postal abbreviations. See stateabbreviations.us for a list.

That introduces a restrictive clause — a clause that must be there for the sentence to make sense. A restrictive clause often defines the noun or phrase preceding it.

Which introduces a non-restrictive, parenthetical clause — a clause that could be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence. Use”who” or whom, rather than that or which, when referring to a person.

For example: The car was travelling at a speed that would endanger lives. The car, which was travelling at a speed that would endanger lives, swerved onto the sidewalk.

Use that when referring to places and things, including groups (e.g., customers), teams, and companies. Use who when referring to individual persons.

Then refers to a time in the past or the next step in a sequence.

Than is used for comparisons.

The word this can be used as an adjective or a pronoun. If you use it as a pronoun, be clear what the antecedent is. If it is unclear, use the adjective form by following this with a noun.

When referring to something quantifiable, use fewer than.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. Do not use UNIX-like. Use an expression like Linux, UNIX, and similar operating systems instead.

For URLs that begin with http://www., you may omit that portion and give the main URL, such as fedoraproject.org. If it begins with ftp or https, you should include the full URL.

Avoid this term. Write use instead.

Avoid using this term.