More description fixes

* Remove package name
* Start with upper case letter
* Remove trailing period

Also reword some descriptions and move some long descriptions to
longDescription.

I'm not touching generated packages.

162 files changed, 288 insertions, 188 deletions

diff --git a/pkgs/applications/audio/quodlibet/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/audio/quodlibet/default.nix
index d9554d5f724..9f4859d6e07 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/audio/quodlibet/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/audio/quodlibet/default.nix
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ buildPythonPackage {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Quod Libet is a GTK+-based audio player written in Python, using the Mutagen tagging library.";
+    description = "GTK+-based audio player written in Python, using the Mutagen tagging library";
 
     longDescription = ''
       Quod Libet is a GTK+-based audio player written in Python, using
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/audio/snd/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/audio/snd/default.nix
index fe32aca029b..a49bfd9cccf 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/audio/snd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/audio/snd/default.nix
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ rec {
 
   name = "snd-" + version;
   meta = {
-    description = "Snd sound editor.";
+    description = "Sound editor";
     homepage = http://ccrma.stanford.edu/software/snd;
     inherit src;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/coffee/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/coffee/default.nix
index c40b3d4cd65..a0ba6143165 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/coffee/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/coffee/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An Emacs major mode for CoffeeScript, unfancy JavaScript.";
+    description = "Emacs major mode for CoffeeScript, unfancy JavaScript";
     homepage = https://github.com/defunkt/coffee-mode;
     license = "GPLv2+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/color-theme/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/color-theme/default.nix
index 327e11bf086..bad277d61ce 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/color-theme/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/color-theme/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   installTargets = "install-bin";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An emacs-lisp mode for skinning your emacs.";
+    description = "Emacs-lisp mode for skinning your Emacs";
     homepage = http://www.nongnu.org/color-theme;
     license = "GPLv2+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/flymake-cursor/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/flymake-cursor/default.nix
index 0a26e8fd43d..4b2692a5e22 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/flymake-cursor/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/flymake-cursor/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Displays flymake error msg in minibuffer after delay.";
+    description = "Displays flymake error msg in minibuffer after delay";
     homepage = http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/flymake-cursor.el;
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.publicDomain;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/htmlize/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/htmlize/default.nix
index d4c428e5a1e..96cc4e040c4 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/htmlize/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/htmlize/default.nix
@@ -11,6 +11,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Convert buffer text and decorations to HTML.";
+    description = "Convert buffer text and decorations to HTML";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/jade/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/jade/default.nix
index 0c99ceaca22..ab0e3512ef2 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/jade/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/jade/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Emacs major mode for jade and stylus.";
+    description = "Emacs major mode for jade and stylus";
     homepage = https://github.com/brianc/jade-mode;
     license = "GPLv2+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/lorem-ipsum/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/lorem-ipsum/default.nix
index 94427537003..72086e54fec 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/lorem-ipsum/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/lorem-ipsum/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Insert dummy pseudo Latin text for emacs.";
+    description = "Insert dummy pseudo Latin text for Emacs";
     homepage = http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/LoremIpsum;
     license = "GPLv2+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/org2blog/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/org2blog/default.nix
index c8c538c5cb7..e72560be8f4 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/org2blog/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/org2blog/default.nix
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A tool to publish directly from Emacs’ org-mode to WordPress blogs.";
+    description = "Publish directly from Emacs’ org-mode to WordPress blogs";
     homepage = https://github.com/punchagan/org2blog;
     license = "GPLv3+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/rect-mark/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/rect-mark/default.nix
index ac01e02b433..896dbdac71b 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/rect-mark/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/rect-mark/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Mark a rectangle of text with highlighting.";
+    description = "Mark a rectangle of text with highlighting";
     homepage = http://emacswiki.org/emacs/RectangleMark;
     license = "GPLv2+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/sunrise-commander/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/sunrise-commander/default.nix
index a253e25cad4..e942189714e 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/sunrise-commander/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/sunrise-commander/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Two-pane file manager for Emacs based on Dired and inspired by MC.";
+    description = "Two-pane file manager for Emacs based on Dired and inspired by MC";
     homepage = http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Sunrise_Commander;
     license = "GPLv3+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/xml-rpc/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/xml-rpc/default.nix
index 87a732b5b4c..cee0f0ca553 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/xml-rpc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/xml-rpc/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An elisp implementation of clientside XML-RPC.";
+    description = "Elisp implementation of clientside XML-RPC";
     homepage = https://launchpad.net/xml-rpc-el;
     license = "GPLv3+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/flpsed/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/flpsed/default.nix
index ca481f1081d..1bae58cfaae 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/flpsed/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/flpsed/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = [ fltk13 ghostscript ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A WYSIWYG PostScript annotator.";
+    description = "WYSIWYG PostScript annotator";
     homepage = "http://http://flpsed.org/flpsed.html";
     license = "GPLv3";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/geany/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/geany/default.nix
index 6d43cc27997..e7c8e276d27 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/geany/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/geany/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   postInstall = "rm $out/share/icons/hicolor/icon-theme.cache";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A GTK2 small and ligthweight IDE.";
+    description = "Small and lightweight IDE";
     longDescription = ''
       Geany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment.
       It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies from other packages.
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/mg/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/mg/default.nix
index ce69b5c0b5a..058a54c45a7 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/mg/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/mg/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://homepage.boetes.org/software/mg/;
-    description = "mg is Micro GNU/emacs, this is a portable version of the mg maintained by the OpenBSD team.";
+    description = "mg is Micro GNU/emacs, this is a portable version of the mg maintained by the OpenBSD team";
     license = "public domain";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/default.nix
index 6aa0b34314a..cfa44d9285c 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/sublime/default.nix
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose.";
+    description = "Sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose";
     license = "unfree";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/gkrellm/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/gkrellm/default.nix
index f1c26b27262..af10ca9800d 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/gkrellm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/gkrellm/default.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
      make install PREFIX="$out" '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "GKrellM, a themeable process stack of system monitors.";
+    description = "Themeable process stack of system monitors";
     longDescription =
       '' GKrellM is a single process stack of system monitors which supports
          applying themes to match its appearance to your window manager, Gtk,
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/gmrun/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/gmrun/default.nix
index 0b19eef3c8c..dbff65d3651 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/gmrun/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/gmrun/default.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Gnome Completion-Run Utility.";
+    description = "Gnome Completion-Run Utility";
     longDescription = ''
       A simple program which provides a "run program" window, featuring a bash-like TAB completion.
       It uses GTK+ interface.
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/gnome_terminator/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/gnome_terminator/default.nix
index cbd0819e240..b394719611d 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/gnome_terminator/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/gnome_terminator/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Gnome terminal emulator with support for tiling and tabs.";
+    description = "Gnome terminal emulator with support for tiling and tabs";
     homepage = http://www.tenshu.net/p/terminator.html;
     license = "GPLv2";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/lyx/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/lyx/default.nix
index 31c00626847..fd2e7c3ac42 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/lyx/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/lyx/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   doCheck = true;
 
   meta = {
-    description = "WYSIWYM frontend for LaTeX, DocBook, etc.";
+    description = "WYSIWYM frontend for LaTeX, DocBook";
     homepage = "http://www.lyx.org";
     license = "GPL2";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.vcunat ];
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/mysql-workbench/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/mysql-workbench/default.nix
index c2f80570673..91fd1da1014 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/mysql-workbench/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/mysql-workbench/default.nix
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ exec 19> $FIFOCTL
   '';
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-    description = "A MySQL visual database modeling, administration and querying tool.";
+    description = "Visual MySQL database modeling, administration and querying tool";
     longDescription = ''
       MySQL Workbench is a modeling tool that allows you to design
       and generate MySQL databases graphically. It also has administration
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/surf/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/surf/default.nix
index d6083da5ce4..42792ba8f91 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/surf/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/surf/default.nix
@@ -27,9 +27,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-      description = "surf is a simple web browser based on WebKit/GTK+. It is able to display websites and follow links. It supports the XEmbed protocol which makes it possible to embed it in another application. Furthermore, one can point surf to another URI by setting its XProperties.";
-      homepage = http://surf.suckless.org;
-      license = "MIT";
-      platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
+    description = "Simple web browser";
+    longDescription = ''
+      Surf is a simple web browser based on WebKit/GTK+. It is able to display
+      websites and follow links. It supports the XEmbed protocol which makes it
+      possible to embed it in another application. Furthermore, one can point
+      surf to another URI by setting its XProperties.
+      '';
+    homepage = http://surf.suckless.org;
+    license = "MIT";
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/taskjuggler/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/taskjuggler/default.nix
index b8edd93455d..77acc511fe4 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/taskjuggler/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/taskjuggler/default.nix
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.taskjuggler.org";
     license = "GPLv2";
-    description = "Project management tool.";
+    description = "Project management tool";
     longDescription = ''
       TaskJuggler is a modern and powerful, Open Source project management
       tool. Its new approach to project planing and tracking is more
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/misc/xfe/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/misc/xfe/default.nix
index bd00d91e23d..ce10b879199 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/misc/xfe/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/misc/xfe/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   meta = {
-    description = "X File Explorer (Xfe) is an MS-Explorer like file manager for X.";
+    description = "X File Explorer (Xfe) is an MS-Explorer like file manager for X";
     longDescription = ''
       X File Explorer (Xfe) is an MS-Explorer like file manager for X.
       It is based on the popular, but discontinued, X Win Commander, which was developed by Maxim Baranov.
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/midori/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/midori/default.nix
index 4d561737d27..e39e377147a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/midori/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/browsers/midori/default.nix
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ rec {
 
   name = "midori-${version}.${release}";
   meta = {
-    description = "Light WebKit-based web browser with GTK GUI.";
+    description = "Light WebKit-based web browser with GTK GUI";
     maintainers = [args.lib.maintainers.raskin];
     platforms = with args.lib.platforms;
       linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix
index cdbf63dbd9f..2e1b745790a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/msn-pecan/default.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Alternative MSN protocol plug-in for Pidgin IM.";
+    description = "Alternative MSN protocol plug-in for Pidgin IM";
     homepage = http://code.google.com/p/msn-pecan/;
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/sipe/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/sipe/default.nix
index e8afdb37cbc..9c787867e5a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/sipe/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin-plugins/sipe/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "SIPE plugin for Pidgin IM.";
+    description = "SIPE plugin for Pidgin IM";
     homepage = http://sipe.sourceforge.net/;
     license = "GPLv2";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin/default.nix
index 00fba657d8a..d0652adcb0d 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/instant-messengers/pidgin/default.nix
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   + (lib.optionalString (gnutls != null) " --enable-gnutls=yes --enable-nss=no")
   ;
   meta = {
-    description = "Pidgin IM - XMPP(Jabber), AIM/ICQ, IRC, SIP etc client.";
+    description = "Pidgin IM - XMPP(Jabber), AIM/ICQ, IRC, SIP etc client";
     homepage = http://pidgin.im;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/sniffers/ettercap/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/sniffers/ettercap/default.nix
index d468c69fbeb..3994563cf3e 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/sniffers/ettercap/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/sniffers/ettercap/default.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Ettercap is a comprehensive suite for man in the middle attacks.";
+    description = "Comprehensive suite for man in the middle attacks";
     homepage = http://ettercap.github.io/ettercap/;
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl2;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.unix;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/ngspice/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/ngspice/default.nix
index 70153eee61b..579492248ea 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/ngspice/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/electronics/ngspice/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   configureFlags = [ "--enable-x" "--with-x" "--with-readline" ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "The Next Generation Spice (Electronic Circuit Simulator).";
+    description = "The Next Generation Spice (Electronic Circuit Simulator)";
     homepage = "http://ngspice.sourceforge.net";
     license = ["BSD" "GPLv2"];
     maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [viric];
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol/default.nix
index 18a16114c50..4223c52b7d4 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol/default.nix
@@ -39,9 +39,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "HOL4, an interactive theorem prover based on Higher-Order Logic.";
+    description = "Interactive theorem prover based on Higher-Order Logic";
     longDescription = ''
-
       HOL4 is the latest version of the HOL interactive proof
       assistant for higher order logic: a programming environment in
       which theorems can be proved and proof tools
@@ -52,7 +51,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
       engines. HOL4 is particularly suitable as a platform for
       implementing combinations of deduction, execution and property
       checking.
-
     '';
     homepage = "http://hol.sourceforge.net/";
     license = "BSD";
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol_light/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol_light/default.nix
index f9549241a45..d6c1c0c1878 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol_light/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/hol_light/default.nix
@@ -26,15 +26,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An interactive theorem prover based on Higher-Order Logic.";
+    description = "Interactive theorem prover based on Higher-Order Logic";
     longDescription = ''
-HOL Light is a computer program to help users prove interesting mathematical
-theorems completely formally in Higher-Order Logic.  It sets a very exacting
-standard of correctness, but provides a number of automated tools and
-pre-proved mathematical theorems (e.g., about arithmetic, basic set theory and
-real analysis) to save the user work.  It is also fully programmable, so users
-can extend it with new theorems and inference rules without compromising its
-soundness.
+      HOL Light is a computer program to help users prove interesting
+      mathematical theorems completely formally in Higher-Order Logic.  It sets
+      a very exacting standard of correctness, but provides a number of
+      automated tools and pre-proved mathematical theorems (e.g., about
+      arithmetic, basic set theory and real analysis) to save the user work.
+      It is also fully programmable, so users can extend it with new theorems
+      and inference rules without compromising its soundness.
     '';
     homepage = http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~jrh13/hol-light/;
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd2;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/logisim/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/logisim/default.nix
index 009bed3ffe2..ab46efa9a96 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/logisim/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/logisim/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://ozark.hendrix.edu/~burch/logisim";
-    description = "Logisim is an educational tool for designing and simulating digital logic circuits.";
+    description = "Educational tool for designing and simulating digital logic circuits";
     license = "GPLv2+";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/prover9/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/prover9/default.nix
index 93b1657aa14..d92c7887210 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/logic/prover9/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/logic/prover9/default.nix
@@ -31,14 +31,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.cs.unm.edu/~mccune/mace4/";
     license = "GPL";
-    description = "Prover9 is an automated theorem prover for first-order and equational logic.";
-
+    description = "Automated theorem prover for first-order and equational logic";
     longDescription = ''
       Prover9 is a resolution/paramodulation automated theorem prover
       for first-order and equational logic. Prover9 is a successor of
       the Otter Prover. This is the LADR command-line version.
     '';
-
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.unix;
     maintainers = [];
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/science/math/wxmaxima/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/science/math/wxmaxima/default.nix
index e9e6ca7bead..47baf446d0a 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/science/math/wxmaxima/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/science/math/wxmaxima/default.nix
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Cross platform GUI for the computer algebra system Maxima.";
+    description = "Cross platform GUI for the computer algebra system Maxima";
     license = "GPL2";
     homepage = http://wxmaxima.sourceforge.net;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/version-management/codeville/0.8.0.nix b/pkgs/applications/version-management/codeville/0.8.0.nix
index d72f753a26e..5c1910d6c6f 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/version-management/codeville/0.8.0.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/version-management/codeville/0.8.0.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ rec {
       
   name = "codeville-0.8.0";
   meta = {
-    description = "Codeville - RCS with powerful merge.";
+    description = "RCS with powerful merge";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/version-management/fossil/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/version-management/fossil/default.nix
index 368557e3c2c..a1959eedba2 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/version-management/fossil/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/version-management/fossil/default.nix
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Simple, high-reliability, distributed software configuration management.";
+    description = "Simple, high-reliability, distributed software configuration management";
     longDescription = ''
       Fossil is a software configuration management system.  Fossil is
       software that is designed to control and track the development of a
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/video/ogmtools/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/video/ogmtools/default.nix
index 1a6bc662999..11a16e3a79d 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/video/ogmtools/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/video/ogmtools/default.nix
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [libogg libvorbis libdvdread];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Tools for modifying and inspecting OGG media streams. Includes dvdxchap tool for extracting chapter information from DVD.";
-    longDescription = "These tools allow information about (ogminfo) or extraction from (ogmdemux) or creation of (ogmmerge) OGG media streams.";
+    description = "Tools for modifying and inspecting OGG media streams";
+    longDescription = ''
+      These tools allow information about (ogminfo) or extraction from
+      (ogmdemux) or creation of (ogmmerge) OGG media streams. Includes dvdxchap
+      tool for extracting chapter information from DVD.
+    '';
     homepage = http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/ogmtools/;
     license = "GPLv2";
-
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/library.nix b/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/library.nix
index bef755afed4..49207ad0661 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/library.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/library.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ pkgconfig lua5 curl quvi_scripts ];
 
   meta = { 
-    description = "Quvi is a web video downloader.";
+    description = "Web video downloader";
     homepage = http://quvi.sf.net;
     license = "LGPLv2.1+";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/scripts.nix b/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/scripts.nix
index 9c6cd9d3137..cc82158ae82 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/scripts.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/scripts.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ pkgconfig ];
 
   meta = { 
-    description = "Quvi is a web video downloader.";
+    description = "Web video downloader";
     homepage = http://quvi.sf.net;
     license = "LGPLv2.1+";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/tool.nix b/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/tool.nix
index b2ddabfa6a8..f8b6aad4310 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/tool.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/video/quvi/tool.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ pkgconfig lua5 curl quvi_scripts libquvi ];
 
   meta = { 
-    description = "Quvi is a web video downloader.";
+    description = "Web video downloader";
     homepage = http://quvi.sf.net;
     license = "LGPLv2.1+";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix
index 195ee5d45c0..d1e2a8b7883 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virt-manager/default.nix
@@ -78,7 +78,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://virt-manager.org;
-    description = "The 'Virtual Machine Manager' application (virt-manager for short package name) is a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines.";
+    description = "Desktop user interface for managing virtual machines";
+    longDescription = ''
+      The virt-manager application is a desktop user interface for managing
+      virtual machines through libvirt. It primarily targets KVM VMs, but also
+      manages Xen and LXC (linux containers).
+    '';
     license = "GPLv2";
     maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [qknight];
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virtinst/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virtinst/default.nix
index 26b16375e65..bb8b7a1d0d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virtinst/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/virtualization/virtinst/default.nix
@@ -40,6 +40,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     homepage = http://virt-manager.org;
     license = "GPLv2+";
     maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [qknight];
-    description = "The Virt Install tool (virt-install for short command name, virtinst for package name) is a command line tool which provides an easy way to provision operating systems into virtual machines.";
+    description = "Command line tool which provides an easy way to provision operating systems into virtual machines";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/ion-3/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/ion-3/default.nix
index b4dabb300c1..7a467b1fcdb 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/ion-3/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/ion-3/default.nix
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
   name = "ion-3-20090110";
   meta = {
-    description = "Ion is a tiling tabbed window manager designed with keyboard users in mind.";
+    description = "Tiling tabbed window manager designed with keyboard users in mind";
     homepage = http://modeemi.fi/~tuomov/ion;
   };
   src = fetchurl {
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/stumpwm/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/stumpwm/default.nix
index ab261a78fb0..721adf41326 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/stumpwm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/stumpwm/default.nix
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ rec {
       
   name = "${pkgName}-" + version;
   meta = {
-    description = "Common Lisp-based ratpoison-like window manager.";
+    description = "Common Lisp-based ratpoison-like window manager";
     maintainers = [args.lib.maintainers.raskin];
     platforms = with args.lib.platforms;
       linux ++ freebsd;
diff --git a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/wmii31/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/wmii31/default.nix
index 50655a851e2..dd49cf5ec43 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/window-managers/wmii31/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/window-managers/wmii31/default.nix
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ args: with args; stdenv.mkDerivation {
      cp cmd/wmiimenu \$out/bin
   ";
   meta = { homepage = "www.suckless.org";
-           description = "one small tool of the wmii window manger to let the user select an item from a list by filtering..";
+           description = "One small tool of the wmii window manger to let the user select an item from a list by filtering";
            license="MIT";
          };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/data/fonts/redhat-liberation-fonts/default.nix b/pkgs/data/fonts/redhat-liberation-fonts/default.nix
index c331b85029d..08faeafc619 100644
--- a/pkgs/data/fonts/redhat-liberation-fonts/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/data/fonts/redhat-liberation-fonts/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Liberation Fonts, replacements for Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New.";
+    description = "Liberation Fonts, replacements for Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New";
 
     longDescription = ''
       The Liberation Fonts are intended to be replacements for the three most
diff --git a/pkgs/data/fonts/unifont/default.nix b/pkgs/data/fonts/unifont/default.nix
index 79d1a090905..893659bc763 100644
--- a/pkgs/data/fonts/unifont/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/data/fonts/unifont/default.nix
@@ -32,6 +32,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     '';
     
   meta = {
-    description = "Unicode font for Base Multilingual Plane.";
+    description = "Unicode font for Base Multilingual Plane";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/gwt/2.4.0.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/gwt/2.4.0.nix
index c5c7841d72a..65208b062c2 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/gwt/2.4.0.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/gwt/2.4.0.nix
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/;
-    description = "Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a development toolkit for building and optimizing complex browser-based applications.";
+    description = "Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a development toolkit for building and optimizing complex browser-based applications";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/julia/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/julia/default.nix
index 3e45fc6d5e3..e2384b08e5b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/julia/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/julia/default.nix
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "High-level performance-oriented dynamical language for technical computing.";
+    description = "High-level performance-oriented dynamical language for technical computing";
     homepage = "http://julialang.org/";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.mit;
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.raskin ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/mlton/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/mlton/default.nix
index 770a6b17b15..a5ff613a9b4 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/mlton/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/mlton/default.nix
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "MLton is an open-source, whole-program, optimizing Standard ML compiler.";
+    description = "Open-source, whole-program, optimizing Standard ML compiler";
     longDescription = ''
       MLton is an open source, whole-program optimizing compiler for the Standard ML programming language.
       MLton aims to produce fast executables, and to encourage rapid prototyping and modular programming
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/urweb/default.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/urweb/default.nix
index 66b15e3499d..a2423bee9b9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/urweb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/urweb/default.nix
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   dontDisableStatic = true;
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Ur/Web supports construction of dynamic web applications backed by SQL databases.";
+    description = "Construct dynamic web applications backed by SQL databases";
     longDescription = ''
       Ur is a programming language in the tradition of ML and Haskell, but
       featuring a significantly richer type system. Ur is functional, pure,
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/falcon/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/falcon/default.nix
index 9800e895400..0b4bfacb6de 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/falcon/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/falcon/default.nix
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@ rec {
 
   name = "falcon-" + version;
   meta = {
-    description = "A programming language. Has macros and syntax at once.";
+    description = "Programming language with macros and syntax at once";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/hiphopvm/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/hiphopvm/default.nix
index 57e3e93c646..c18c81caff0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/hiphopvm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/hiphopvm/default.nix
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   patches = [./tbb.patch];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "HipHop is a high performance PHP toolchain.";
+    description = "High performance PHP toolchain";
     homepage = https://github.com/facebook/hiphop-php;
     platforms = ["x86_64-linux"];
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-4/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-4/default.nix
index a95e4e4c35e..13f7964769c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-4/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-4/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.lua.org";
-    description = "Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language.";
+    description = "Powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language";
     longDescription = ''
       Lua combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data
       description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.0.3.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.0.3.nix
index ff2a8140191..eae2d82d5d0 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.0.3.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.0.3.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.lua.org";
-    description = "Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language.";
+    description = "Powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language";
     longDescription = ''
       Lua combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data
       description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.1.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.1.nix
index bdbf2d106bf..2923a8f960d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.1.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.1.nix
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.lua.org";
-    description = "Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language.";
+    description = "Powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language";
     longDescription = ''
       Lua combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data
       description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.2.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.2.nix
index bd5a868c2d5..5b4c2459872 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/lua-5/5.2.nix
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.lua.org";
-    description = "Lua is a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language.";
+    description = "Powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language";
     longDescription = ''
       Lua combines simple procedural syntax with powerful data
       description constructs based on associative arrays and extensible
diff --git a/pkgs/development/interpreters/racket/default.nix b/pkgs/development/interpreters/racket/default.nix
index ddcf2634039..f45c96d2805 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/interpreters/racket/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/interpreters/racket/default.nix
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A programming language derived from Scheme (formerly called PLT Scheme).";
+    description = "Programming language derived from Scheme (formerly called PLT Scheme)";
     longDescription = ''
       Racket (formerly called PLT Scheme) is a programming language derived
       from Scheme. The Racket project has four primary components: the
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/2.x.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/2.x.nix
index 97c7a4c9f53..60e8da9c3fc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/2.x.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/2.x.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,17 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "CLucene is a port of the very popular Java Lucene text search engine API. Core package, 2.x branch.";
+    description = "Core library for full-featured text search engine";
+    longDescription = ''
+      CLucene is a high-performance, scalable, cross platform, full-featured,
+      open-source indexing and searching API. Specifically, CLucene is the guts
+      of a search engine, the hard stuff. You write the easy stuff: the UI and
+      the process of selecting and parsing your data files to pump them into
+      the search engine yourself, and any specialized queries to pull it back
+      for display or further processing.
+
+      CLucene is a port of the very popular Java Lucene text search engine API.
+    '';
     homepage = http://clucene.sourceforge.net;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/default.nix
index abd6712736f..33a789266d4 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/clucene-core/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,17 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
   
   meta = {
-    description = "CLucene is a port of the very popular Java Lucene text search engine API. Core package.";
+    description = "Core library for full-featured text search engine";
+    longDescription = ''
+      CLucene is a high-performance, scalable, cross platform, full-featured,
+      open-source indexing and searching API. Specifically, CLucene is the guts
+      of a search engine, the hard stuff. You write the easy stuff: the UI and
+      the process of selecting and parsing your data files to pump them into
+      the search engine yourself, and any specialized queries to pull it back
+      for display or further processing.
+
+      CLucene is a port of the very popular Java Lucene text search engine API.
+    '';
     homepage = http://clucene.sourceforge.net;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/coin3d/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/coin3d/default.nix
index b477a88ed53..2ada0244149 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/coin3d/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/coin3d/default.nix
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   meta = {
     homepage = http://www.coin3d.org/;
     license = "GPLv2+";
-    description = "High-level, retained-mode toolkit for effective 3D graphics development.";
-
+    description = "High-level, retained-mode toolkit for effective 3D graphics development";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.viric ];
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/eventlog/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/eventlog/default.nix
index b1239d6f4cf..7a8ab8e464b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/eventlog/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/eventlog/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A new API to format and send structured log messages.";
+    description = "Syslog event logger library";
+    longDescription = ''
+      The EventLog library aims to be a replacement of the simple syslog() API
+      provided on UNIX systems. The major difference between EventLog and
+      syslog is that EventLog tries to add structure to messages.
+
+      Where you had a simple non-structrured string in syslog() you have a
+      combination of description and tag/value pairs.
+    '';
     homepage = "http://www.balabit.com/support/community/products/";
     license = "BSD";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/gssdp/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/gssdp/default.nix
index 28bad546084..c33457544f5 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/gssdp/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/gssdp/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = [pkgconfig libsoup glib libxml2];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A GObject-based API for handling resource discovery and announcement over SSDP.";
+    description = "GObject-based API for handling resource discovery and announcement over SSDP";
     homepage = http://www.gupnp.org/;
     license = "LGPL v2";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/RSA/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/RSA/default.nix
index c5257c5b262..17f4c516a54 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/RSA/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/RSA/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
     binary cryptoApi cryptoPubkeyTypes monadcryptorandom pureMD5 SHA
   ];
   meta = {
-    description = "Implementation of RSA, using the padding schemes of PKCS#1 v2.1.";
+    description = "Implementation of RSA, using the padding schemes of PKCS#1 v2.1";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/arithmoi/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/arithmoi/default.nix
index 181937fdd80..22707c04e83 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/arithmoi/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/arithmoi/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   buildDepends = [ mtl random ];
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://bitbucket.org/dafis/arithmoi";
-    description = "Efficient basic number-theoretic functions. Primes, powers, integer logarithms.";
+    description = "Basic number theoretic functions and utilities";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.mit;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/datetime/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/datetime/default.nix
index faf0b40b94d..669bace3366 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/datetime/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/datetime/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   buildDepends = [ QuickCheck time ];
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://github.com/esessoms/datetime";
-    description = "Utilities to make Data.Time.* easier to use.";
+    description = "Utilities to make Data.Time.* easier to use";
     license = "GPL";
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/dotgen/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/dotgen/default.nix
index a7fe5b791f0..f56db8f8c5f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/dotgen/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/dotgen/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   isLibrary = true;
   isExecutable = true;
   meta = {
-    description = "A simple interface for building .dot graph files.";
+    description = "A simple interface for building .dot graph files";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/feed/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/feed/default.nix
index a2c1ccde86b..ec4251d7cb1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/feed/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/feed/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   buildDepends = [ utf8String xml ];
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://github.com/sof/feed";
-    description = "Interfacing with RSS (v 0.9x, 2.x, 1.0) + Atom feeds.";
+    description = "Interfacing with RSS (v 0.9x, 2.x, 1.0) + Atom feeds";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hoauth/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hoauth/default.nix
index c568b292c3c..0486ee72f3b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hoauth/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hoauth/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
     time utf8String
   ];
   meta = {
-    description = "A Haskell implementation of OAuth 1.0a protocol.";
+    description = "A Haskell implementation of OAuth 1.0a protocol";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hsyslog/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hsyslog/default.nix
index 3f475425659..2a531875e0b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hsyslog/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/hsyslog/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   sha256 = "1dpcawnl3a5lw2w8gc9920sjrw43qmq1k2zws8rx2q0r6ps7nhgp";
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://github.com/peti/hsyslog";
-    description = "FFI interface to syslog(3) from POSIX.1-2001.";
+    description = "FFI interface to syslog(3) from POSIX.1-2001";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/skein/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/skein/default.nix
index 7acc60e3601..4d96ea19373 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/skein/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/skein/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   jailbreak = true;
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://github.com/meteficha/skein";
-    description = "Skein, a family of cryptographic hash functions. Includes Skein-MAC as well.";
+    description = "Family of cryptographic hash functions (includes Skein-MAC)";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/tar/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/tar/default.nix
index 04257960a64..7ee52e79e03 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/tar/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/tar/default.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   sha256 = "0vbsv7h3zgp30mlgsw156jkv1rqy5zbm98as9haf7x15hd6jf254";
   buildDepends = [ filepath time ];
   meta = {
-    description = "Reading, writing and manipulating \".tar\" archive files.";
+    description = "Reading, writing and manipulating \".tar\" archive files";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [ self.stdenv.lib.maintainers.andres ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/transformers-compat/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/transformers-compat/default.nix
index 2abd6efa0ce..3eda20cec05 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/transformers-compat/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/haskell/transformers-compat/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ cabal.mkDerivation (self: {
   buildDepends = [ transformers ];
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://github.com/ekmett/transformers-compat/";
-    description = "A small compatibility shim exposing the new types from transformers 0.3 to older Haskell platforms.";
+    description = "Small compatibility shim exposing the new types from transformers 0.3 to older Haskell platforms";
     license = self.stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = self.ghc.meta.platforms;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/hunspell/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/hunspell/default.nix
index 04be58eb50a..95516dadacf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/hunspell/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/hunspell/default.nix
@@ -13,9 +13,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://hunspell.sourceforge.net;
-    description = "The spell checker of OpenOffice.org and Mozilla Firefox 3 & Thunderbird, Google Chrome etc.";
+    description = "Spell checker";
     longDescription = ''
+      Hunspell is the spell checker of LibreOffice, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla
+      Firefox 3 & Thunderbird, Google Chrome, and it is also used by
+      proprietary software packages, like Mac OS X, InDesign, memoQ, Opera and
+      SDL Trados.
+
       Main features:
+
       * Extended support for language peculiarities; Unicode character encoding, compounding and complex morphology.
       * Improved suggestion using n-gram similarity, rule and dictionary based pronounciation data.
       * Morphological analysis, stemming and generation.
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/jansson/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/jansson/default.nix
index a1f9983abe2..4908c737ece 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/jansson/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/jansson/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.digip.org/jansson/";
-    description = "Jansson is a C library for encoding, decoding and manipulating JSON data.";
+    description = "C library for encoding, decoding and manipulating JSON data";
     license = "MIT";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/leveldb/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/leveldb/default.nix
index 12846dfbe8b..7c990e99c33 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/leveldb/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/leveldb/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "https://code.google.com/p/leveldb/";
-    description = "A fast and lightweight key/value database library by Google.";
+    description = "Fast and lightweight key/value database library by Google";
     license = "BSD";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libid3tag/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libid3tag/default.nix
index e137c939771..3b701b703c1 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libid3tag/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libid3tag/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   propagatedBuildInputs = [zlib];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An ID3 tag manipulation library.";
+    description = "ID3 tag manipulation library";
     homepage = http://mad.sourceforge.net/;
     license = "GPL";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/liblockfile/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/liblockfile/default.nix
index 2db90845f69..f991fdc2f29 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/liblockfile/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/liblockfile/default.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Liblockfile is a shared library with NFS-safe locking functions.";
+    description = "Shared library with NFS-safe locking functions";
     homepage = http://packages.debian.org/unstable/libs/liblockfile1;
     license = "GPLv2+";
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libmcrypt/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libmcrypt/default.nix
index 79019cbc489..afa66161731 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libmcrypt/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libmcrypt/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     [ "--disable-posix-threads" ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "MCrypt is a replacement for the old crypt() package and crypt(1) command, with extensions.";
+    description = "Replacement for the old crypt() package and crypt(1) command, with extensions";
     homepage = http://mcrypt.sourceforge.net;
     license = "GPL";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libmemcached/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libmemcached/default.nix
index 487b4de6cb7..b724f915150 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libmemcached/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libmemcached/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://libmemcached.org;
-    description = "libMemcached is an open source C/C++ client library and tools for the memcached server.";
+    description = "Open source C/C++ client library and tools for the memcached server";
     license = "BSD";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libnet/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libnet/default.nix
index 42ef4d30a12..783739dda71 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libnet/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libnet/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://github.com/sam-github/libnet;
-    description = "Libnet provides a portable framework for low-level network packet construction.";
+    description = "Portable framework for low-level network packet construction";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.unix;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libnetfilter_conntrack/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libnetfilter_conntrack/default.nix
index 99624911077..8e689ed2568 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libnetfilter_conntrack/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libnetfilter_conntrack/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ pkgconfig libnfnetlink libmnl ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "userspace library providing an API to the in-kernel connection tracking state table.";
+    description = "Userspace library providing an API to the in-kernel connection tracking state table";
     longDescription = ''
       libnetfilter_conntrack is a userspace library providing a programming interface (API) to the
       in-kernel connection tracking state table. The library libnetfilter_conntrack has been
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libnfnetlink/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libnfnetlink/default.nix
index 07a182dff10..3bb698e9bf6 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libnfnetlink/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libnfnetlink/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "low-level library for netfilter related kernel/userspace communication.";
+    description = "Low-level library for netfilter related kernel/userspace communication";
     longDescription = ''
       libnfnetlink is the low-level library for netfilter related kernel/userspace communication.
       It provides a generic messaging infrastructure for in-kernel netfilter subsystems
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/liboop/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/liboop/default.nix
index 20793eb3140..a963288e869 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/liboop/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/liboop/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "`liboop', an event loop library.";
+    description = "Event loop library";
     homepage = http://liboop.ofb.net/;
     license = "LGPL";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/librdf/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/librdf/default.nix
index 21c952b7fb8..9b51f694ab3 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/librdf/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/librdf/default.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   #doCheck = true; # would need swh_lv2 and some path patching
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A lightweight RDF library with special support for LADSPA plugins.";
+    description = "Lightweight RDF library with special support for LADSPA plugins";
     homepage = http://sourceforge.net/projects/lrdf/;
     license = "GPLv2";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.marcweber ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/oniguruma/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/oniguruma/default.nix
index 984b84085fe..684d6475c63 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/oniguruma/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/oniguruma/default.nix
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   
   meta = {
     homepage = http://www.geocities.jp/kosako3/oniguruma/;
-    description = "Oniguruma is a regular expressions library.";
+    description = "Oniguruma regular expressions library";
     license = "BSD";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/qhull/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/qhull/default.nix
index b81dbda1586..a82acd2745d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/qhull/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/qhull/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://www.qhull.org/;
-    description = "Computes the convex hull, Delaunay triangulation, ...";
+    description = "Computes the convex hull, Delaunay triangulation, Voronoi diagram and more";
     license = "free";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/sfml/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/sfml/default.nix
index 99b0f2e725c..844505cb359 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/sfml/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/sfml/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   ";
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://www.sfml-dev.org/;
-    description = "A multimedia C++ API that provides access to graphics, input, audio, etc.";
+    description = "Simple and fast multimedia library";
+    longDescription = ''
+      SFML provides a simple interface to the various components of your PC, to
+      ease the development of games and multimedia applications. It is composed
+      of five modules: system, window, graphics, audio and network.
+    '';
     license = licenses.zlib;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.astsmtl ];
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/spice-protocol/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/spice-protocol/default.nix
index e281b1fcf9d..162a832c93a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/spice-protocol/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/spice-protocol/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Protocol headers for the SPICE protocol.";
+    description = "Protocol headers for the SPICE protocol";
     homepage = http://www.spice-space.org;
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/tinyxml/2.6.2.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/tinyxml/2.6.2.nix
index fde30a98fe9..e1cc1f27c1d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/tinyxml/2.6.2.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/tinyxml/2.6.2.nix
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
   
   meta = {
-    description = "TinyXML is a simple, small, C++ XML parser that can be easily integrating into other programs.";
+    description = "Simple, small, C++ XML parser that can be easily integrating into other programs";
     homepage = "http://www.grinninglizard.com/tinyxml/index.html";
     license = "free-non-copyleft";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/vcdimager/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/vcdimager/default.nix
index 58b9d2f2573..e93f071aefa 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/vcdimager/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/vcdimager/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/;
-    description = "GNU VCDImager is a full-featured mastering suite for authoring, disassembling and analyzing Video CDs and Super Video CDs.";
+    description = "Full-featured mastering suite for authoring, disassembling and analyzing Video CDs and Super Video CDs";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.gnu; # random choice
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/ocamlgraph/default.nix b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/ocamlgraph/default.nix
index 2e109f1d621..997ca220610 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/ocamlgraph/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/ocamlgraph/default.nix
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://ocamlgraph.lri.fr/;
-    description = "ocamlgraph is a graph library for Objective Caml.";
+    description = "Graph library for Objective Caml";
     license = "GNU Library General Public License version 2, with the special exception on linking described in file LICENSE";
     platforms = ocaml.meta.platforms;
     maintainers = [
diff --git a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/sexplib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/sexplib/default.nix
index 32d5c842dc8..7c40b5e6cfb 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/sexplib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/ocaml-modules/sexplib/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://forge.ocamlcore.org/projects/sexplib/";
-    description = "Library for serializing OCaml values to and from S-expressions.";
+    description = "Library for serializing OCaml values to and from S-expressions";
     license = "LGPL";
     platforms = ocaml.meta.platforms;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/perl-modules/maatkit/default.nix b/pkgs/development/perl-modules/maatkit/default.nix
index d560a5d8e41..d9a1f777f3a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/perl-modules/maatkit/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/perl-modules/maatkit/default.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,15 @@ buildPerlPackage rec {
   '' ;
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Maatkit makes MySQL easier and safer to manage. It provides simple, predictable ways to do things you cannot otherwise do.";
+    description = "Database toolkit";
+    longDescription = ''
+      You can use Maatkit to prove replication is working correctly, fix
+      corrupted data, automate repetitive tasks, speed up your servers, and
+      much more.
+
+      In addition to MySQL, there is support for PostgreSQL, Memcached, and a
+      growing variety of other databases and technologies.
+    '';
     license = "GPLv2+";
     homepage = http://www.maatkit.org/;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/default.nix
index 791d5e83d3c..dc4f733a4cf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/default.nix
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   makeFlags = "QT_PLUGIN_PATH=" + pysideShiboken + "/lib/generatorrunner";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "LGPL-licensed Python bindings for the Qt cross-platform application and UI framework.";
+    description = "LGPL-licensed Python bindings for the Qt cross-platform application and UI framework";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.lgpl21;
     homepage = "http://www.pyside.org";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.chaoflow ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/tools.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/tools.nix
index 0b5e6851761..a3153bed217 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/tools.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/pyside/tools.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = [ cmake pyside python27 qt4 pysideShiboken ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Tools for pyside, the LGPL-licensed Python bindings for the Qt cross-platform application and UI framework.";
+    description = "Tools for pyside, the LGPL-licensed Python bindings for the Qt cross-platform application and UI framework";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl2;
     homepage = "http://www.pyside.org";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.chaoflow ];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/qtcreator/default.nix b/pkgs/development/qtcreator/default.nix
index 97f238302ec..55e33c45ca9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/qtcreator/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/qtcreator/default.nix
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   installFlags = "INSTALL_ROOT=$(out)";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Qt Creator is a cross-platform IDE tailored to the needs of Qt developers.";
+    description = "Cross-platform IDE tailored to the needs of Qt developers";
     longDescription = ''
-        Qt Creator is a cross-platform IDE (integrated development environment) tailored to the needs of Qt developers.
-        It includes features such as an advanced code editor, a visual debugger and a GUI designer.
-      '';
+      Qt Creator is a cross-platform IDE (integrated development environment)
+      tailored to the needs of Qt developers. It includes features such as an
+      advanced code editor, a visual debugger and a GUI designer.
+    '';
     homepage = "http://qt-project.org/wiki/Category:Tools::QtCreator";
     license = "LGPL";
-
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.bbenoist ];
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/cppcheck/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/cppcheck/default.nix
index b152f0537e3..8aea7bc8aa8 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/cppcheck/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/cppcheck/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   configurePhase = "makeFlags=PREFIX=$out";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "check C/C++ code for memory leaks, mismatching allocation-deallocation, buffer overrun, etc.";
+    description = "Check C/C++ code for memory leaks, mismatching allocation-deallocation, buffer overrun and more";
     homepage = "http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/cppcheck/";
     license = "GPL";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.unix;
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/jdepend/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/jdepend/default.nix
index 7498d3b652a..586e9d5cd5d 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/jdepend/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/jdepend/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Depend traverses Java class file directories and generates design quality metrics for each Java package." ;
+    description = "Traverses Java class file directories and generates design quality metrics for each Java package";
     homepage = http://www.clarkware.com/software/JDepend.html ;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/pmd/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/pmd/default.nix
index b830ee00838..14007d80b0f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/pmd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/analysis/pmd/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "PMD scans Java source code and looks for potential problems." ;
+    description = "Scans Java source code and looks for potential problems";
     homepage = http://pmd.sourceforge.net/;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/colormake/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/colormake/default.nix
index 9d62b4e187b..25ef7ef0b24 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/colormake/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/colormake/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A simple wrapper around make to colorize the output.";
+    description = "Simple wrapper around make to colorize the output";
     license = "GPLv2";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/sysbench/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/sysbench/default.nix
index f09ab2af7d1..e3acf620c73 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/misc/sysbench/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/misc/sysbench/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "SysBench is a modular, cross-platform and multi-threaded benchmark tool.";
+    description = "Modular, cross-platform and multi-threaded benchmark tool";
     license = "GPLv2";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/re2c/default.nix b/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/re2c/default.nix
index b7ed4fb8934..e603768b8cc 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/re2c/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/parsing/re2c/default.nix
@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Re2c is a tool for writing very fast and very flexible scanners.";
+    description = "Tool for writing very fast and very flexible scanners";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/games/extremetuxracer/default.nix b/pkgs/games/extremetuxracer/default.nix
index 898334a1d4a..e35eb3266c2 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/extremetuxracer/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/extremetuxracer/default.nix
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ rec {
 
   name = "extremetuxracer-" + version;
   meta = {
-    description = "ExtremeTuxRacer - Tux lies on his belly and accelerates down ice slopes..";
+    description = "High speed arctic racing game based on Tux Racer";
+    longDescription = ''
+      ExtremeTuxRacer - Tux lies on his belly and accelerates down ice slopes.
+    '';
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/games/freeciv/default.nix b/pkgs/games/freeciv/default.nix
index 049f10ad15b..de62b4a669a 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/freeciv/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/freeciv/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     ++ optional server readline;
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-    description = "multiplayer (or single player), turn-based strategy game.";
+    description = "Multiplayer (or single player), turn-based strategy game";
 
     longDescription = ''
       Freeciv is a Free and Open Source empire-building strategy game
diff --git a/pkgs/games/gtypist/default.nix b/pkgs/games/gtypist/default.nix
index 3dded927ba1..19567918377 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/gtypist/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/gtypist/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist;
-    description = "GNU Typist (also called gtypist) is a universal typing tutor.";
+    description = "Universal typing tutor";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl3Plus;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/games/minetest/default.nix b/pkgs/games/minetest/default.nix
index 6c860d42925..f2ac737486c 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/minetest/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/minetest/default.nix
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://minetest.net/";
-    description = "Minetest is an infinite-world block sandbox game.";
+    description = "Infinite-world block sandbox game";
     license = "LGPLv2.1+";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/games/spring/springlobby.nix b/pkgs/games/spring/springlobby.nix
index e6051a12a26..b78fd7d7788 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/spring/springlobby.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/spring/springlobby.nix
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://springlobby.info/;
-    description = "A free cross-platform lobby client for the Spring RTS project.";
+    description = "Cross-platform lobby client for the Spring RTS project";
     license = licenses.gpl2;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.phreedom maintainers.qknight];
     platforms = platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/games/super-tux/default.nix b/pkgs/games/super-tux/default.nix
index 60e9cc537bf..945eaa7fbf8 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/super-tux/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/super-tux/default.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   patches = [ ./g++4.patch ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "SuperTux is a classic 2D jump'n run sidescroller game in a style similar to the original Super Mario games covered under the GPL.";
+    description = "Classic 2D jump'n run sidescroller game";
 
     homepage = http://supertux.lethargik.org/index.html;
 
diff --git a/pkgs/games/unvanquished/default.nix b/pkgs/games/unvanquished/default.nix
index 6d1c8e5607c..2768d2fad9e 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/unvanquished/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/unvanquished/default.nix
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A FLOSS FPS combining RTS elements with a futuristic, sci-fi setting.";
+    description = "FPS game set in a futuristic, sci-fi setting";
     longDescription = ''
       Unvanquished is a free, open-source first-person shooter
       combining real-time strategy elements with a futuristic, sci-fi
diff --git a/pkgs/games/warsow/default.nix b/pkgs/games/warsow/default.nix
index aeb7e37cd7e..84d15efb810 100644
--- a/pkgs/games/warsow/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/games/warsow/default.nix
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     patchelf --set-rpath $cur_rpath:${mesa}/lib $p
   '';
   meta = {
-    description = "A multiplayer FPS designed for competitive gaming.";
+    description = "Multiplayer FPS game designed for competitive gaming";
     longDescription = ''
       Set in a futuristic cartoon-like world where rocketlauncher-wielding
       pigs and lasergun-carrying cyberpunks roam the streets, Warsow is a
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/emulators/hatari/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/emulators/hatari/default.nix
index e4eeff9cd54..150b45dd727 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/emulators/hatari/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/emulators/hatari/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://hatari.tuxfamily.org/";
-    description = "Hatari is an Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon emulator.";
+    description = "Atari ST/STE/TT/Falcon emulator";
     license = "GPLv2+";
     platforms = with stdenv.lib.platforms; all;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/misc/screensavers/xlockmore/default.nix b/pkgs/misc/screensavers/xlockmore/default.nix
index 2df8f2fd97a..b3c71c89191 100644
--- a/pkgs/misc/screensavers/xlockmore/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/misc/screensavers/xlockmore/default.nix
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     + (if pam != null then " --enable-pam --enable-bad-pam" else " --disable-pam");
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Xlockmore, a screen locker for the X Window System.";
+    description = "Screen locker for the X Window System";
     homepage = "http://www.tux.org/~bagleyd/xlockmore.html";
     license = "GPL";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dstat/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dstat/default.nix
index fb454c78788..138b4ff468f 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dstat/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/dstat/default.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://dag.wieers.com/home-made/dstat/;
-    description = "Versatile resource statistics tool.";
+    description = "Versatile resource statistics tool";
     license = "GPLv2";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
     maintainers = [ ];
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_ccreds/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_ccreds/default.nix
index 4d48c86dd14..7f84918156c 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_ccreds/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_ccreds/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = [pam openssl db];
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.padl.com/OSS/pam_ccreds.html";
-    description = "The pam_ccreds module provides the means for Linux workstations to locally authenticate using an enterprise identity when the network is unavailable.";
+    description = "PAM module to locally authenticate using an enterprise identity when the network is unavailable";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_krb5/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_krb5/default.nix
index 62f9b5c119b..5f95811e0f6 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_krb5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/pam_krb5/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   meta = {
 #    homepage = "http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/software/pam-krb5";
     homepage = "https://fedorahosted.org/pam_krb5/";
-    description = "The pam_krb5 module allows PAM-aware applications to authenticate users by performing an AS exchange with a Kerberos KDC. It can optionally convert Kerberos 5 credentials to Kerberos IV credentials and/or use them to set up AFS tokens for a user's session.";
+    description = "PAM module allowing PAM-aware applications to authenticate users by performing an AS exchange with a Kerberos KDC";
+    longDescription = ''
+      pam_krb5 can optionally convert Kerberos 5 credentials to Kerberos IV
+      credentials and/or use them to set up AFS tokens for a user's session.
+    '';
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/x86info/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/x86info/default.nix
index 297991ff4d9..6cd2a431a60 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/x86info/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/x86info/default.nix
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An identification utility for the x86 series of processors.";
+    description = "Identification utility for the x86 series of processors";
     longDescription =
     ''
       x86info will identify all Intel/AMD/Centaur/Cyrix/VIA CPUs. It leverages
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/computing/storm/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/computing/storm/default.nix
index ca3f5333b30..88837f9bb42 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/computing/storm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/computing/storm/default.nix
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://storm-project.net";
-    description = "Storm, free and open source distributed realtime computation system.";
+    description = "Distributed realtime computation system";
     license = "Eclipse Public License 1.0";
     maintainers = [ lib.maintainers.vizanto ];
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/http/apache-modules/mod_evasive/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/http/apache-modules/mod_evasive/default.nix
index d796d0a6dc5..129f44ab502 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/http/apache-modules/mod_evasive/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/http/apache-modules/mod_evasive/default.nix
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?page_id=442";
-    description = "mod_evasive is an evasive maneuvers module for Apache to provide evasive action in the event of an HTTP DoS or DDoS attack or brute force attack.";
-
+    description = "Evasive maneuvers module for Apache to provide evasive action in the event of an HTTP DoS or DDoS attack or brute force attack";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/icecast/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/icecast/default.nix
index 24ae245a8a0..8b940fdb0cf 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/icecast/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/icecast/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ libxml2 libxslt curl libvorbis libtheora speex libkate ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "icecast is free server software for streaming multimedia.";
+    description = "Server software for streaming multimedia";
 
     longDescription = ''
       Icecast is a streaming media server which currently supports Ogg Vorbis and MP3
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/mail/dovecot-pigeonhole/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/mail/dovecot-pigeonhole/default.nix
index c4204113ae0..5c0f39ca135 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/mail/dovecot-pigeonhole/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/mail/dovecot-pigeonhole/default.nix
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://pigeonhole.dovecot.org/;
-    description = "A sieve plugin for the Dovecot IMAP server.";
+    description = "A sieve plugin for the Dovecot IMAP server";
     license = licenses.lgpl21;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.rickynils ];
   };  
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/sabnzbd/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/sabnzbd/default.nix
index 599f6ee31f3..ace96fbed63 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/sabnzbd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/sabnzbd/default.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   builder = ./builder.sh;
   
   meta = {
-    description = "Usenet NZB downloader, par2 repairer and auto extracting server.";
+    description = "Usenet NZB downloader, par2 repairer and auto extracting server";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/servers/varnish/default.nix b/pkgs/servers/varnish/default.nix
index 528c03e3aa3..8d0f3b306f2 100644
--- a/pkgs/servers/varnish/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/servers/varnish/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ pcre libxslt groff ncurses pkgconfig ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Varnish Cache is a web application accelerator also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy.";
+    description = "Web application accelerator also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy";
     homepage = "https://www.varnish-cache.org";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd2;
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.garbas ];
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/X11/keynav/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/X11/keynav/default.nix
index 19de62990e2..02b6321d18c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/X11/keynav/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/X11/keynav/default.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A tool to generate X11 mouse clicks from keyboard.";
+    description = "Generate X11 mouse clicks from keyboard";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/X11/x2x/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/X11/x2x/default.nix
index 5d68e1da1ba..237ea614059 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/X11/x2x/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/X11/x2x/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "x2x allows the keyboard, mouse on one X display to be used to control another X display.";
+    description = "Allows the keyboard, mouse on one X display to be used to control another X display";
     homepage = http://x2x.dottedmag.net;
     license = "BSD";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/backup/httrack/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/backup/httrack/default.nix
index ecdf40be0a5..c02a16d821a 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/backup/httrack/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/backup/httrack/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.httrack.com";
-    description = "HTTrack is a free (GPL, libre/free software) and easy-to-use offline browser utility.";
+    description = "Easy-to-use offline browser utility";
     license = "GPL";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/backup/obnam/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/backup/obnam/default.nix
index 69927e01582..6d550e95a9d 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/backup/obnam/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/backup/obnam/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ pythonPackages.buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://liw.fi/obnam/;
-    description = "A backup program supporting deduplication, compression and encryption.";
+    description = "Backup program supporting deduplication, compression and encryption";
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.rickynils ];
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/graphics/dmtx/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/graphics/dmtx/default.nix
index 29c6b5ebf79..74b1a2bf4ed 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/graphics/dmtx/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/graphics/dmtx/default.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ rec {
       
   name = "dmtx-" + version;
   meta = {
-    description = "DataMatrix (2D bar code) processing tools.";
+    description = "DataMatrix (2D bar code) processing tools";
     maintainers = [args.lib.maintainers.raskin];
     platforms = args.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/detox/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/detox/default.nix
index ade13382033..435115ffc59 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/detox/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/detox/default.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = [flex];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Detox is a utility designed to clean up filenames.";
+    description = "Utility designed to clean up filenames";
     longDescription = ''
       Detox is a utility designed to clean up filenames. It replaces
       difficult to work with characters, such as spaces, with standard
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/disper/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/disper/default.nix
index cc11427f65a..b4a159745d4 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/disper/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/disper/default.nix
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Disper is an on-the-fly display switch utility.";
+    description = "On-the-fly display switch utility";
     homepage = http://willem.engen.nl/projects/disper/;
   };
 
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/fdupes/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/fdupes/default.nix
index 2de9efdac58..14e6a2f6681 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/fdupes/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/fdupes/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   makeFlags = "PREFIX=\${out}";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "identifies duplicate files residing within specified directories.";
+    description = "Identifies duplicate files residing within specified directories";
     longDescription = ''
       FDUPES uses md5sums and then a byte by byte comparison to finde duplicate
       files within a set of directories.
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/gnuvd/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/gnuvd/default.nix
index 6436a14047a..122694af456 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/gnuvd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/gnuvd/default.nix
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "gnuvd is a command-line dutch dictionary application.";
+    description = "Command-line dutch dictionary application";
     homepage = http://www.djcbsoftware.nl/code/gnuvd/;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/grc/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/grc/default.nix
index ea54ab4a543..cd3ea6eda6f 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/grc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/grc/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-    description = "Yet another colouriser for beautifying your logfiles or output of commands.";
+    description = "Yet another colouriser for beautifying your logfiles or output of commands";
     homepage    = http://korpus.juls.savba.sk/~garabik/software/grc.html;
     license     = licenses.gpl2;
     maintainers = with maintainers; [ lovek323 ];
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/gsmartcontrol/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/gsmartcontrol/default.nix
index abbd8f20fd0..6cb528cca1d 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/gsmartcontrol/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/gsmartcontrol/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,16 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   #installTargets = "install datainstall";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "GSmartControl is a graphical user interface for smartctl (from smartmontools package), which is a tool for querying and controlling SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) data on modern hard disk drives.";
+    description = "Hard disk drive health inspection tool";
+    longDescription = ''
+      GSmartControl is a graphical user interface for smartctl (from
+      smartmontools package), which is a tool for querying and controlling
+      SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) data on
+      modern hard disk drives.
+
+      It allows you to inspect the drive's SMART data to determine its health,
+      as well as run various tests on it.
+    '';
     homepage = http://gsmartcontrol.berlios.de;
     license = "GPLv2+";
     maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [qknight];
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
index 0aacf744b1a..01820aaf778 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/hdf5/default.nix
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   patches = [./bin-mv.patch];
   
   meta = {
-    description = "HDF5 is a data model, library, and file format for storing and managing data.";
+    description = "Data model, library, and file format for storing and managing data";
     longDescription = ''
-      It supports an unlimited variety of datatypes, and is designed for flexible and efficient 
+      HDF5 supports an unlimited variety of datatypes, and is designed for flexible and efficient
       I/O and for high volume and complex data. HDF5 is portable and is extensible, allowing 
       applications to evolve in their use of HDF5. The HDF5 Technology suite includes tools and 
       applications for managing, manipulating, viewing, and analyzing data in the HDF5 format.
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/mcrypt/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/mcrypt/default.nix
index 7701f0e2059..761b2c5bdbf 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/mcrypt/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/mcrypt/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [libmcrypt libmhash];
  
   meta = {
-    description = "mcrypt, and the accompanying libmcrypt, are intended to be replacements for the old Unix crypt, except that they are under the GPL and support an ever-wider range of algorithms and modes.";
+    description = "Replacement for old UNIX crypt(1)";
+    longDescription = ''
+      mcrypt, and the accompanying libmcrypt, are intended to be replacements
+      for the old Unix crypt, except that they are under the GPL and support an
+      ever-wider range of algorithms and modes.
+    '';
     homepage = http://mcrypt.sourceforge.net;
     license = "GPLv2";
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/ncdu/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/ncdu/default.nix
index 2d3a67db8c5..47b96023ce0 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/ncdu/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/ncdu/default.nix
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   buildInputs = [ ncurses ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "An ncurses disk usage analyzer.";
+    description = "Ncurses disk usage analyzer";
     homepage = http://dev.yorhel.nl/ncdu;
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.mit;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/ponysay/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/ponysay/default.nix
index 17be93dda8f..1da0d70a14f 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/ponysay/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/ponysay/default.nix
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "cowsay reimplemention for ponies.";
+    description = "Cowsay reimplemention for ponies";
     homepage = http://terse.tk/ponysay/;
     license = "GPLv3";
     maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [ bodil ];
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/ttmkfdir/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/ttmkfdir/default.nix
index 3f05d600944..12adb5318a8 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/ttmkfdir/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/ttmkfdir/default.nix
@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   buildInputs = [freetype fontconfig libunwind libtool flex bison];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Create fonts.dir for TTF font directory.";
+    description = "Create fonts.dir for TTF font directory";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/unclutter/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/unclutter/default.nix
index b267074e77f..542530532de 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/unclutter/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/unclutter/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   '';
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
-    description = "Hides mouse pointer while not in use.";
+    description = "Hides mouse pointer while not in use";
     longDescription = ''
       Unclutter hides your X mouse cursor when you do not need it, to prevent
       it from getting in the way. You have only to move the mouse to restore
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/units/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/units/default.nix
index d4cd07aa4c6..c609d2275da 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/units/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/units/default.nix
@@ -8,6 +8,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Unit conversion tool.";
+    description = "Unit conversion tool";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/misc/venus/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/misc/venus/default.nix
index b4f9732dec6..b7f2be179c4 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/misc/venus/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/misc/venus/default.nix
@@ -41,7 +41,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Planet Venus is an awesome ‘river of news’ feed reader. It downloads news feeds published by web sites and aggregates their content together into a single combined feed, latest news first.";
+    description = "News feed reader";
+    longDescription = ''
+      Planet Venus is an awesome ‘river of news’ feed reader. It downloads news
+      feeds published by web sites and aggregates their content together into a
+      single combined feed, latest news first.
+    '';
     homepage = "http://intertwingly.net/code/venus/docs/index.html";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.psfl;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/connect/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/connect/default.nix
index 67f2b63c292..c6291efad31 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/connect/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/connect/default.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "make network connection via SOCKS and https proxy.";
+    description = "Make network connection via SOCKS and https proxy";
     longDescription = ''
       This proxy traversal tool is intended to assist OpenSSH (via ProxyCommand
       in ~/.ssh/config) and GIT (via $GIT_PROXY_COMMAND) utilize SOCKS and https proxies. 
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/fping/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/fping/default.nix
index c51c8f59ff7..4bda944c68a 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/fping/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/fping/default.nix
@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://fping.org/";
-    description = "A program to send ICMP echo probes to network hosts.";
+    description = "Send ICMP echo probes to network hosts";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/gmvault/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/gmvault/default.nix
index 8ab93948191..e78dfa5b2ca 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/gmvault/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/gmvault/default.nix
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Gmvault Gmail Backup - Backup and restore your gmail account at will.";
+    description = "Backup and restore your gmail account";
     homepage = "http://gmvault.org";
     license = pkgs.lib.licenses.agpl3Plus;
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/haproxy/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/haproxy/default.nix
index d44c9f831f3..3946f1eef0f 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/haproxy/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/haproxy/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "HAProxy is a free, very fast and reliable solution offering high availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP and HTTP-based applications.";
+    description = "Reliable, high performance TCP/HTTP load balancer";
+    longDescription = ''
+      HAProxy is a free, very fast and reliable solution offering high
+      availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP and HTTP-based
+      applications. It is particularly suited for web sites crawling under very
+      high loads while needing persistence or Layer7 processing. Supporting
+      tens of thousands of connections is clearly realistic with todays
+      hardware.
+    '';
     homepage = http://haproxy.1wt.eu;
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.garbas ];
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/mosh/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/mosh/default.nix
index f9562f7eff6..2708210af80 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/mosh/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/mosh/default.nix
@@ -17,7 +17,15 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://mosh.mit.edu/;
-    description = "Remote terminal application that allows roaming, local echo, etc.";
+    description = "Mobile shell (ssh replacement)";
+    longDescription = ''
+      Remote terminal application that allows roaming, supports intermittent
+      connectivity, and provides intelligent local echo and line editing of
+      user keystrokes.
+
+      Mosh is a replacement for SSH. It's more robust and responsive,
+      especially over Wi-Fi, cellular, and long-distance links.
+    '';
     license = "GPLv3+";
     maintainers = with stdenv.lib.maintainers; [viric];
     platforms = with stdenv.lib.platforms; linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix
index 23ff6ddba55..77ef6e0ad30 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/netrw/default.nix
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "A simple tool for transporting data over the network.";
+    description = "Simple tool for transporting data over the network";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.gpl2;
     homepage = "http://mamuti.net/netrw/index.en.html";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix
index 3d1563f9520..9050423cfaf 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/nylon/default.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = http://monkey.org/~marius/nylon;
-    description = "Proxy server, supporting SOCKS 4 and 5, as well as a mirror mode.";
+    description = "Proxy server, supporting SOCKS 4 and 5, as well as a mirror mode";
     license = "free";
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/offlineimap/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/offlineimap/default.nix
index a5b46ebbc3c..fa1d2fb805a 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/offlineimap/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/offlineimap/default.nix
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
   ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "OfflineImap synchronizes emails between two repositories, so that you can read the same mailbox from multiple computers.";
+    description = "Synchronize emails between two repositories, so that you can read the same mailbox from multiple computers";
     homepage = "http://offlineimap.org";
     license = pkgs.lib.licenses.gpl2Plus;
     maintainers = [ pkgs.lib.maintainers.garbas ];
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/pdsh/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/pdsh/default.nix
index ec0b7c6f60b..80fc075107c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/pdsh/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/pdsh/default.nix
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://code.google.com/p/pdsh/";
-    description = "A high-performance, parallel remote shell utility.";
+    description = "High-performance, parallel remote shell utility";
     license = "GPLv2";
 
     longDescription = ''
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/proxychains/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/proxychains/default.nix
index e2eeb73fc64..6778cf94907 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/proxychains/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/proxychains/default.nix
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Proxifier for SOCKS proxies.";
+    description = "Proxifier for SOCKS proxies";
     homepage = http://proxychains.sourceforge.net;
     license = "GPLv2+";
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/trickle/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/trickle/default.nix
index 646108525d3..254dc168ec8 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/trickle/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/trickle/default.nix
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   configureFlags = "--with-libevent";
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Trickle, a portable lightweight userspace bandwidth shaper.";
+    description = "Lightweight userspace bandwidth shaper";
     license = "BSD";
     homepage = http://monkey.org/~marius/pages/?page=trickle;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix
index 98fc8e4d145..ea9719dd9b2 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/networking/unbound/default.nix
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
     "--localstatedir=/var" ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Unbound, a validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver.";
+    description = "Validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver";
     license = "BSD";
     homepage = http://www.unbound.net;
     platforms = with stdenv.lib.platforms; linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/security/pwgen/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/security/pwgen/default.nix
index aaa3b577657..ef91e69428a 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/security/pwgen/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/security/pwgen/default.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     sha256 = "1afxbkdl9b81760pyb972k18dmidrciy3vzcnspp3jg0aa316yn8";
   };
   meta = {
-	description = "Small, GPL'ed password generator which creates passwords which can be easily memorized by a human.";
-        platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
+    description = "Password generator which creates passwords which can be easily memorized by a human";
+    platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.all;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/security/torbutton/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/security/torbutton/default.nix
index 348d96b0024..05bab06d382 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/security/torbutton/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/security/torbutton/default.nix
@@ -21,7 +21,12 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/;
-    description = "the component in Tor Browser Bundle that takes care of application-level security and privacy concerns in Firefox. To keep you safe, Torbutton disables many types of active content.";
+    description = "Part of the Tor Browser Bundle";
+    longDescription = ''
+      The component in Tor Browser Bundle that takes care of application-level
+      security and privacy concerns in Firefox. To keep you safe, Torbutton
+      disables many types of active content.
+    '';
     license = licenses.mit;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.phreedom ];
     platforms = platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/logcheck/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/logcheck/default.nix
index 1c57711940b..7d15ade348c 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/logcheck/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/logcheck/default.nix
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
  ];
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Mails anomalies in the system logfiles to the administrator.";
+    description = "Mails anomalies in the system logfiles to the administrator";
     longDescription = ''
       Mails anomalies in the system logfiles to the administrator.
 
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/lshw/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/lshw/default.nix
index a0f838cfcf9..930cb7b7bff 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/lshw/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/lshw/default.nix
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
     homepage = http://ezix.org/project/wiki/HardwareLiSter;
-    description = "A small tool to provide detailed information on the hardware configuration of the machine.";
+    description = "Provide detailed information on the hardware configuration of the machine";
     license = licenses.gpl2;
     maintainers = [ maintainers.phreedom ];
     platforms = platforms.linux;
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/rsyslog/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/rsyslog/default.nix
index 0189d04902a..3b5c0648384 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/rsyslog/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/rsyslog/default.nix
@@ -14,9 +14,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.rsyslog.com/";
-    description = "Rsyslog is an enhanced syslogd. It can be used as a drop-in replacement for stock sysklogd.";
+    description = "Enhanced syslog implementation";
     license = "GPLv3";
-
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/syslog-ng/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/syslog-ng/default.nix
index f5ee2f1bcbb..f2cb221cb32 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/syslog-ng/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/syslog-ng/default.nix
@@ -13,9 +13,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://www.balabit.com/network-security/syslog-ng/";
-    description = "Next-generation syslogd with advanced networking and filtering capabilities.";
+    description = "Next-generation syslogd with advanced networking and filtering capabilities";
     license = "GPLv2";
-
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
     maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.simons ];
   };
diff --git a/pkgs/tools/system/vboot_reference/default.nix b/pkgs/tools/system/vboot_reference/default.nix
index ed48a9976d4..e1c4734bbda 100644
--- a/pkgs/tools/system/vboot_reference/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/tools/system/vboot_reference/default.nix
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   '';
 
   meta = {
-    description = "Chrome OS partitioning and kernel signing tools.";
+    description = "Chrome OS partitioning and kernel signing tools";
     license = stdenv.lib.licenses.bsd3;
     platforms = stdenv.lib.platforms.linux;
   };