gnu: Use synopses from the Womb.

* gnu/packages/algebra.scm,
  gnu/packages/aspell.scm,
  gnu/packages/autotools.scm,
  gnu/packages/base.scm,
  gnu/packages/bash.scm,
  gnu/packages/bison.scm,
  gnu/packages/cdrom.scm,
  gnu/packages/cflow.scm,
  gnu/packages/compression.scm,
  gnu/packages/cpio.scm,
  gnu/packages/cppi.scm,
  gnu/packages/ddrescue.scm,
  gnu/packages/dejagnu.scm,
  gnu/packages/ed.scm,
  gnu/packages/emacs.scm,
  gnu/packages/fdisk.scm,
  gnu/packages/gawk.scm,
  gnu/packages/gcc.scm,
packages/gcc.scm, b/gnu/packages/gcc.scm,
4b982 100644
s/gcc.scm,
s/gcc.scm,
@@
         %standard-phases)))))

 `((gcc-libc . ,(assoc-ref inputs "libc"))))
The GNU Compiler Collection")
GNU Compiler Collection")
n
ompiler Collection includes compiler front ends for C, C++,
tran, OpenMP for C/C++/Fortran, Java, and Ada, as well as
  gnu/packages/gdb.scm,
  gnu/packages/gettext.scm,
  gnu/packages/ghostscript.scm,
  gnu/packages/glib.scm,
  gnu/packages/global.scm,
  gnu/packages/gnupg.scm,
  gnu/packages/gnutls.scm,
  gnu/packages/gperf.scm,
  gnu/packages/gprolog.scm,
  gnu/packages/groff.scm,
  gnu/packages/grub.scm,
  gnu/packages/gsasl.scm,
  gnu/packages/guile.scm,
  gnu/packages/help2man.scm,
  gnu/packages/idutils.scm,
  gnu/packages/indent.scm,
  gnu/packages/less.scm,
  gnu/packages/libidn.scm,
  gnu/packages/libsigsegv.scm,
  gnu/packages/libunistring.scm,
  gnu/packages/linux.scm,
  gnu/packages/lsh.scm,
  gnu/packages/m4.scm,
  gnu/packages/mailutils.scm,
  gnu/packages/multiprecision.scm,
  gnu/packages/nano.scm,
  gnu/packages/ncurses.scm,
  gnu/packages/nettle.scm,
  gnu/packages/oggvorbis.scm,
  gnu/packages/parted.scm,
  gnu/packages/pth.scm,
  gnu/packages/readline.scm,
  gnu/packages/recutils.scm,
  gnu/packages/scheme.scm,
  gnu/packages/screen.scm,
  gnu/packages/shishi.scm,
  gnu/packages/smalltalk.scm,
  gnu/packages/system.scm,
  gnu/packages/texinfo.scm,
  gnu/packages/time.scm,
  gnu/packages/wdiff.scm,
  gnu/packages/wget.scm,
  gnu/packages/which.scm: Use synopses from the Womb.

62 files changed, 91 insertions, 132 deletions

diff --git a/gnu/packages/algebra.scm b/gnu/packages/algebra.scm
index 8d51c16814..87f7d0e9d7 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/algebra.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/algebra.scm
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ solve the shortest vector problem.")
         "18qf6jzz1r3mzb5qynywv4xx3z9g61hgkbpkdrhbgqh2g7jhgfc5"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/")
-    (synopsis "The GNU Scientific Library, a large numerical library")
+    (synopsis "Numerical library for C and C++")
     (description
      "The GNU Scientific Library (GSL) is a numerical library for C
 and C++ programmers.  It is free software under the GNU General
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ PARI is also available as a C library to allow for faster computations.")
                                     (string-append "--prefix=" out)))))
                       %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/bc/")
-    (synopsis "GNU software calculator")
+    (synopsis "Arbitrary precision numeric processing language")
     (description
      "bc is an arbitrary precision numeric processing language. Syntax
 is similar to C, but differs in many substantial areas. It supports
diff --git a/gnu/packages/aspell.scm b/gnu/packages/aspell.scm
index ca0218d814..0b8d761266 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/aspell.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/aspell.scm
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (inputs `(("perl" ,perl)))
     (home-page "http://aspell.net/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Aspell, A spell checker for many languages")
+    (synopsis "Spell checker")
     (description
      "GNU Aspell is a free spell checker designed to eventually replace
 Ispell.  It can either be used as a library or as an independent spell
diff --git a/gnu/packages/autotools.scm b/gnu/packages/autotools.scm
index 51aadbf0ec..4af6d2a6cf 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/autotools.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/autotools.scm
@@ -50,8 +50,7 @@
     (arguments `(#:tests? #f))
     (home-page
      "http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Autoconf, a part of the GNU Build System")
+    (synopsis "Create source code configuration scripts")
     (description
      "GNU Autoconf is an extensible package of M4 macros that produce
 shell scripts to automatically configure software source code
@@ -198,8 +197,7 @@ exec ~a --no-auto-compile \"$0\" \"$@\"
                                 (find-files dir ".*"))))
                   %standard-phases))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/automake/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Automake, a GNU standard-compliant makefile generator")
+    (synopsis "Making GNU standards-compliant Makefiles")
     (description
      "GNU Automake is a tool for automatically generating
 `Makefile.in' files compliant with the GNU Coding
@@ -253,7 +251,7 @@ Standards.  Automake requires the use of Autoconf.")
                  %standard-phases)))
     (inputs `(("patch/skip-tests"
                ,(search-patch "libtool-skip-tests.patch"))))
-    (synopsis "GNU Libtool, a generic library support script")
+    (synopsis "Generic shared library support tools")
     (description
      "GNU libtool is a generic library support script.  Libtool hides the
 complexity of using shared libraries behind a consistent, portable interface.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/base.scm b/gnu/packages/base.scm
index 92b94dc035..1eaa4fb860 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/base.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/base.scm
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
                   ,(string-append "--with-gawk="  ; for illustration purposes
                                  (assoc-ref %build-inputs "gawk")))))
    (inputs `(("gawk" ,gawk)))
-   (synopsis "GNU Hello")
+   (synopsis "Hello, GNU world: An example GNU package")
    (description "Yeah...")
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/hello/")
    (license gpl3+)))
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
              (base32
               "1qbjb1l7f9blckc5pqy8jlf6482hpx4awn2acmhyf5mv9wfq03p7"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (synopsis "GNU implementation of the Unix grep command")
+   (synopsis "Print lines matching a pattern")
    (description
     "The grep command searches one or more input files for lines containing a
 match to a specified pattern.  By default, grep prints the matching
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ lines.")
              (base32
               "13wlsb4sf5d5a82xjhxqmdvrrn36rmw5f0pl9qyb9zkvldnb7hra"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (synopsis "GNU sed, a batch stream editor")
+   (synopsis "Stream editor")
    (arguments
     `(#:phases (alist-cons-before
                 'patch-source-shebangs 'patch-test-suite
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ substituting multiple occurrences of a string within a file.")
    (inputs `(("patch/gets" ,(search-patch "tar-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
    (arguments
     `(#:patches (list (assoc-ref %build-inputs "patch/gets"))))
-   (synopsis "GNU implementation of the `tar' archiver")
+   (synopsis "Managing tar archives")
    (description
     "The Tar program provides the ability to create tar archives, as well as
 various other kinds of manipulation.  For example, you can use Tar on
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ files (as archives).")
     ;; TODO: When cross-compiling, add this:
     ;;  '(#:configure-flags '("ac_cv_func_strnlen_working=yes"))
     )
-   (synopsis "GNU Patch, a program to apply differences to files")
+   (synopsis "Apply differences to originals, with optional backups")
    (description
     "GNU Patch takes a patch file containing a difference listing produced by
 the diff program and applies those differences to one or more original files,
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ producing patched versions.")
    (inputs `(("patch/gets"
               ,(search-patch "diffutils-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
    (arguments `(#:patches (list (assoc-ref %build-inputs "patch/gets"))))
-   (synopsis "Programs to find differences among text files")
+   (synopsis "Comparing and merging files")
    (description
     "GNU Diffutils is a package of several programs related to finding
 differences between files.
@@ -243,8 +243,7 @@ You can use the sdiff command to merge two files interactively.")
     ;; `(#:configure-flags '("gl_cv_func_wcwidth_works=yes")
     ;;   ,@(arguments cross-system))
     )
-   (synopsis "Basic directory searching utilities of the GNU operating
-system")
+   (synopsis "Operating on files matching given criteria")
    (description
     "The GNU Find Utilities are the basic directory searching utilities of
 the GNU operating system.  These programs are typically used in conjunction
@@ -291,9 +290,7 @@ The tools supplied with this package are:
                       (("#!/bin/sh")
                        (format #f "#!~a/bin/bash" bash)))))
                 %standard-phases)))
-   (synopsis
-    "The basic file, shell and text manipulation utilities of the GNU
-operating system")
+   (synopsis "Core GNU utilities (file, text, shell)")
    (description
     "The GNU Core Utilities are the basic file, shell and text manipulation
 utilities of the GNU operating system.  These are the core utilities which
@@ -327,8 +324,7 @@ are expected to exist on every operating system.")
                        (format #f "default_shell[] = \"~a/bin/bash\";\n"
                                bash)))))
                 %standard-phases)))
-   (synopsis "GNU Make, a program controlling the generation of non-source
-files from sources")
+   (synopsis "Remake files automatically")
    (description
     "Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other
 non-source files of a program from the program's source files.
@@ -370,8 +366,7 @@ that it is possible to use Make to build and install the program.")
                           ;; Don't search under /usr/lib & co.
                           "--with-lib-path=/no-ld-lib-path")))
 
-   (synopsis "GNU Binutils, tools for manipulating binaries (linker,
-assembler, etc.)")
+   (synopsis "Binary utilities: bfd gas gprof ld")
    (description
     "The GNU Binutils are a collection of binary tools.  The main ones are
 `ld' (the GNU linker) and `as' (the GNU assembler).  They also include the
diff --git a/gnu/packages/bash.scm b/gnu/packages/bash.scm
index d74315ad18..7caa26f36c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/bash.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/bash.scm
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
         #:phases (alist-cons-after 'install 'post-install
                                    ,post-install-phase
                                    %standard-phases)))
-     (synopsis "GNU Bourne-Again Shell")
+     (synopsis "The GNU Bourne-Again SHell")
      (description
       "Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in
 the GNU operating system.  Bash is an sh-compatible shell that incorporates
diff --git a/gnu/packages/bison.scm b/gnu/packages/bison.scm
index 95ffb17522..11483b1434 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/bison.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/bison.scm
@@ -40,8 +40,7 @@
     (inputs `(("perl" ,perl)))
     (propagated-inputs `(("m4" ,m4)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/bison/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Bison, a Yacc-compatible parser generator")
+    (synopsis "Parser generator")
     (description
      "Bison is a general-purpose parser generator that converts an
 annotated context-free grammar into an LALR(1) or GLR parser for
diff --git a/gnu/packages/cdrom.scm b/gnu/packages/cdrom.scm
index 225ed2fa9c..ccab52fc56 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cdrom.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cdrom.scm
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ caching facility provided by the library.")
        ("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)
        ("libcddb" ,libcddb)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libcdio/")
-    (synopsis "A library for OS-independent CD-ROM and CD image access")
+    (synopsis "CD Input and Control library")
     (description
      "GNU libcdio is a library for OS-idependent CD-ROM and CD image access.
 It includes a library for working with ISO-9660 filesystems (libiso9660), as
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ well as utility programs such as an audio CD player and an extractor.")
        ("zlib" ,zlib)
        ("libcdio" ,libcdio)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/xorriso/")
-    (synopsis "An ISO 9660 Rock Ridge file system manipulator")
+    (synopsis "Create, manipulate, burn ISO-9660 filesystems")
     (description
      "GNU xorriso copies file objects from POSIX compliant filesystems into
 Rock Ridge enhanced ISO 9660 filesystems and allows session-wise manipulation
diff --git a/gnu/packages/cflow.scm b/gnu/packages/cflow.scm
index bb000ddc59..caf690bc4c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cflow.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cflow.scm
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
                "1jkbq97ajcf834z68hbn3xfhiz921zhn39gklml1racf0kb3jzh3"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/cflow/")
-    (synopsis "A tool to analyze the control flow of C programs")
+    (synopsis "Create a graph of control flow within a program")
     (description
      "GNU cflow analyzes a collection of C source files and prints a
 graph, charting control flow within the program.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/compression.scm b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
index 086900990b..89cb014a3c 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/compression.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ in compression.")
              (base32
               "18rm80kar7n016g8bsyy1a3zk50i2826xdgs874yh64rzj7nxmdm"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (synopsis "Gzip, the GNU zip compression program")
+   (synopsis "General file (de)compression (using lzw)")
    (arguments
     ;; FIXME: The test suite wants `less', and optionally Perl.
     '(#:tests? #f))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/cpio.scm b/gnu/packages/cpio.scm
index 711d64d7af..8512499b7b 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cpio.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cpio.scm
@@ -42,8 +42,7 @@
     (inputs
      `(("patch/gets" ,(search-patch "cpio-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/cpio/")
-    (synopsis
-     "A program to create or extract from cpio archives")
+    (synopsis "Manage cpio and tar file archives")
     (description
      "GNU Cpio copies files into or out of a cpio or tar archive. The
 archive can be another file on the disk, a magnetic tape, or a pipe.
@@ -55,4 +54,4 @@ default, cpio creates binary format archives, for compatibility with
 older cpio programs. When extracting from archives, cpio automatically
 recognizes which kind of archive it is reading and can read archives
 created on machines with a different byte-order.")
-    (license gpl3+)))
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license gpl3+)))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/cppi.scm b/gnu/packages/cppi.scm
index 53f24698fc..d28fc40173 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/cppi.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/cppi.scm
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
                "1jk42cjaggk71rimjnx3qpmb6hivps0917vl3z7wbxk3i2whb98j"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/cppi/")
-    (synopsis "A cpp directive indenter")
+    (synopsis "Indent C preprocessor directives to reflect nesting and more")
     (description
      "GNU cppi indents C preprocessor directives to reflect their nesting and
 ensure that there is exactly one space character between each #if, #elif,
diff --git a/gnu/packages/ddrescue.scm b/gnu/packages/ddrescue.scm
index 0d5533d423..5c653af6db 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/ddrescue.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/ddrescue.scm
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page
      "http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/ddrescue.html")
-    (synopsis "GNU Ddrescue, a data recovery tool")
+    (synopsis "Data recovery utility")
     (description
      "GNU Ddrescue is a data recovery tool.  It copies data from one
 file or block device (e.g., hard disk, CD-ROM) to another, trying hard to
diff --git a/gnu/packages/dejagnu.scm b/gnu/packages/dejagnu.scm
index 1efc7c78e7..999d976ec7 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/dejagnu.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/dejagnu.scm
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
                   %standard-phases))))
     (home-page
      "http://www.gnu.org/software/dejagnu/")
-    (synopsis "The DejaGNU testing framework")
+    (synopsis "GNU software testing framework")
     (description
      "DejaGnu is a framework for testing other programs.  Its purpose
 is to provide a single front end for all tests.  Think of it as a
diff --git a/gnu/packages/ed.scm b/gnu/packages/ed.scm
index de76bee38d..0f387be797 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/ed.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/ed.scm
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@
                                        (("/bin/sh") (which "sh"))))
                                    %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/ed/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU ed, an implementation of the standard Unix editor")
+    (synopsis "Line-oriented text editor")
     (description
      "GNU ed is a line-oriented text editor.  It is used to create,
 display, modify and otherwise manipulate text files, both
diff --git a/gnu/packages/emacs.scm b/gnu/packages/emacs.scm
index 9a107967a3..250fcf2401 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/emacs.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/emacs.scm
@@ -74,8 +74,7 @@
        ("patch/epaths" ,(search-patch "emacs-configure-sh.patch"))
        ))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Emacs 24, the extensible, customizable text editor")
+    (synopsis "The extensible, customizable, self-documenting text editor")
     (description
      "GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more.  At its
 core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp
diff --git a/gnu/packages/fdisk.scm b/gnu/packages/fdisk.scm
index 5cf02a9014..6248feb98b 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/fdisk.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/fdisk.scm
@@ -46,9 +46,8 @@
        ("util-linux" ,util-linux)
        ("parted" ,parted)))
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/fdisk/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Fdisk, a command-line disk partitioning tool")
+    (synopsis "Low-level disk partitioning and formatting")
     (description
      "GNU Fdisk provides alternatives to util-linux fdisk and util-linux
 cfdisk.  It uses GNU Parted.")
-    (license gpl3+)))
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license gpl3+)))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gawk.scm b/gnu/packages/gawk.scm
index 5279544db9..15ff2a4401 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gawk.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gawk.scm
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
                 %standard-phases)))
    (inputs `(("libsigsegv" ,libsigsegv)))
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/")
-   (synopsis "GNU implementation of the Awk programming language")
+   (synopsis "A text scanning and processing language")
    (description
     "Many computer users need to manipulate text files: extract and then
 operate on data from parts of certain lines while discarding the rest, make
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gcc.scm b/gnu/packages/gcc.scm
index 116c1859a9..164b982ab1 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gcc.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gcc.scm
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
                          %standard-phases)))))
 
      (properties `((gcc-libc . ,(assoc-ref inputs "libc"))))
-     (synopsis "The GNU Compiler Collection")
+     (synopsis "GNU Compiler Collection")
      (description
       "The GNU Compiler Collection includes compiler front ends for C, C++,
 Objective-C, Fortran, OpenMP for C/C++/Fortran, Java, and Ada, as well as
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gdb.scm b/gnu/packages/gdb.scm
index 71a85a431b..95f542c707 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gdb.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gdb.scm
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
        ("texinfo" ,texinfo)
        ("dejagnu" ,dejagnu)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/")
-    (synopsis "GDB, the GNU Project debugger")
+    (synopsis "The GNU debugger")
     (description
      "GDB, the GNU Project debugger, allows you to see what is going
 on `inside' another program while it executes -- or what another
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gettext.scm b/gnu/packages/gettext.scm
index e85b8f69c3..29ea54924a 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gettext.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gettext.scm
@@ -56,8 +56,7 @@
         ,(search-patch "gettext-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
     (home-page
      "http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU gettext, a well integrated set of translation tools and documentation")
+    (synopsis "Tools and documentation for translation")
     (description
      "Usually, programs are written and documented in English, and use
 English at execution time for interacting with users.  Using a common
diff --git a/gnu/packages/ghostscript.scm b/gnu/packages/ghostscript.scm
index 835ed475cc..2c58bca0bd 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/ghostscript.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/ghostscript.scm
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ printing, and psresize, for adjusting page sizes.")
           (apply install args)
           (system* "make" "install-so")))
       %standard-phases)))))
-   (synopsis "GNU Ghostscript, an interpreter for the PostScript language and for PDF")
+   (synopsis "PostScript and PDF interpreter")
    (description
     "GNU Ghostscript is an interpreter for PostScript and Portable Document
 Format (PDF) files.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/glib.scm b/gnu/packages/glib.scm
index fdcc9bdc31..d594a1b068 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/glib.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/glib.scm
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ shared NFS home directories.")
       #:configure-flags (list (string-append "--with-html-dir="
                                              (assoc-ref %outputs "doc")
                                              "/share/gtk-doc"))))
-   (synopsis "C library that provides core application building blocks")
+   (synopsis "Thread-safe general utility library; basis of GTK+ and GNOME")
    (description
     "GLib provides data structure handling for C, portability wrappers,
 and interfaces for such runtime functionality as an event loop, threads,
diff --git a/gnu/packages/global.scm b/gnu/packages/global.scm
index 6ef36d5aea..6ad79d1283 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/global.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/global.scm
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
        (list (string-append "--with-ncurses="
                             (assoc-ref %build-inputs "ncurses")))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/global/")
-    (synopsis "GNU GLOBAL source code tag system")
+    (synopsis "Cross-environment source code tag system")
     (description
      "GNU GLOBAL is a source code tagging system that works the same way
 across diverse environments (Emacs, vi, less, Bash, web browser, etc).
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm b/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm
index 1810b65fe8..f96071e072 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnupg.scm
@@ -69,8 +69,7 @@ Daemon and possibly more in the future.")
     (propagated-inputs
      `(("libgpg-error" ,libgpg-error)))
     (home-page "http://gnupg.org/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Libgcrypt, a general-pupose cryptographic library")
+    (synopsis "Cryptographic function library")
     (description
      "GNU Libgcrypt is a general purpose cryptographic library based on
 the code from GnuPG.  It provides functions for all
@@ -166,8 +165,7 @@ specifications are building blocks of S/MIME and TLS.")
            (apply configure args)))
        %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://gnupg.org/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG), GNU Project's implementation of the OpenPGP standard")
+    (synopsis "GNU Privacy Guard")
     (description
      "GnuPG is the GNU project's complete and free implementation of
 the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880.  GnuPG allows to
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gnutls.scm b/gnu/packages/gnutls.scm
index dc571adc60..e817198db3 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gnutls.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gnutls.scm
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
         "0gvgndypwicchf7m660zh7jdgmkfj9g9xavpcc08pyd0120y0bk7"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/")
-    (synopsis "GNU Libtasn1, an ASN.1 library")
+    (synopsis "ASN.1 library")
     (description
      "Libtasn1 is the ASN.1 library used by GnuTLS, GNU Shishi and some
 other packages.  The goal of this implementation is to be highly
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ portable, and only require an ANSI C89 platform.")
        ("nettle" ,nettle)
        ("which" ,which)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/")
-    (synopsis "The GNU Transport Layer Security Library")
+    (synopsis "Transport layer security library")
     (description
      "GnuTLS is a project that aims to develop a library which provides
 a secure layer, over a reliable transport layer. Currently the GnuTLS
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gperf.scm b/gnu/packages/gperf.scm
index 2425756f1b..3a9d2d97d8 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gperf.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gperf.scm
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (arguments '(#:parallel-tests? #f))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/gperf/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU gperf, a perfect hash function generator")
+    (synopsis "Perfect hash function generator")
     (description
      "GNU gperf is a perfect hash function generator.  For a given
 list of strings, it produces a hash function and hash table, in
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gprolog.scm b/gnu/packages/gprolog.scm
index ba84d9a836..c362a7bc11 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gprolog.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gprolog.scm
@@ -45,9 +45,7 @@
                      (("= /bin/sh") (string-append "= " (which "sh")))))
                  %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/gprolog/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Prolog, a free Prolog compiler with constraint solving over
-finite domains")
+    (synopsis "Prolog compiler")
     (description
      "GNU Prolog is a free Prolog compiler with constraint solving over
 finite domains developed by Daniel Diaz.
@@ -69,4 +67,4 @@ interface, sockets).
 GNU Prolog also includes an efficient constraint solver over finite domains.
 This opens contraint logic programming to the user combining the power of
 constraint programming to the declarativity of logic programming.")
-    (license (list gpl2+ lgpl3+))))
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license (list gpl2+ lgpl3+))))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/groff.scm b/gnu/packages/groff.scm
index dce87dde1e..5265faeee5 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/groff.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/groff.scm
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
              ("perl" ,perl)
              ("psutils" ,psutils)
              ("texinfo" ,texinfo)))
-   (synopsis "GNU Troff text formatting system")
+   (synopsis "Typesetting from plain text mixed with formatting commands")
    (description
     "GNU Troff (Groff) is a software typesetting package which reads plain
 text mixed with formatting commands and produces formatted output.")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/grub.scm b/gnu/packages/grub.scm
index ee52a6110a..af9c135f2d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/grub.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/grub.scm
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@
        ("qemu" ,qemu)
        ("xorriso" ,xorriso)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU GRUB, the Grand Unified Boot Loader (2.x beta)")
+    (synopsis "GRand unified boot loader")
     (description
      "GNU GRUB is a Multiboot boot loader. It was derived from GRUB, GRand
 Unified Bootloader, which was originally designed and implemented by Erich
diff --git a/gnu/packages/gsasl.scm b/gnu/packages/gsasl.scm
index 832ae0c2ff..fb5712a7b0 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/gsasl.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/gsasl.scm
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
              ("shishi" ,shishi)
              ("zlib" ,guix:zlib)
             ))
-   (synopsis "GNU GSS (Generic Security Service), a free implementatio of RFC 2743/2744")
+   (synopsis "Generic Security Service library")
    (description
     "GNU GSS is an implementation of the Generic Security Service Application
 Program Interface (GSS-API). GSS-API is used by network servers to provide
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ SMTP/IMAP servers. GSS consists of a library and a manual.")
              ("gss" ,gss)
              ("zlib" ,guix:zlib)
              ))
-   (synopsis "GNU SASL, an implementation of the Simple Authentication and Security Layer framework")
+   (synopsis "Simple Authentication and Security Layer library")
    (description
     "GNU SASL is an implementation of the Simple Authentication and Security
 Layer framework and a few common SASL mechanisms. SASL is used by network
diff --git a/gnu/packages/guile.scm b/gnu/packages/guile.scm
index 58e7c2910c..763584d7dc 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/guile.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/guile.scm
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
    ;; When cross-compiling, a native version of Guile itself is needed.
    (self-native-input? #t)
 
-   (synopsis "GNU Guile 1.8, an embeddable Scheme interpreter")
+   (synopsis "Scheme implementation intended especially for extensions")
    (description
 "GNU Guile 1.8 is an interpreter for the Scheme programming language,
 packaged as a library that can be embedded into programs to make them
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ extensible.  It supports many SRFIs.")
                        (string-append bash "/bin/bash")))))
                 %standard-phases)))
 
-   (synopsis "GNU Guile 2.0, an embeddable Scheme implementation")
+   (synopsis "Scheme implementation intended especially for extensions")
    (description
 "GNU Guile is an implementation of the Scheme programming language, with
 support for many SRFIs, packaged for use in a wide variety of environments.
@@ -231,8 +231,7 @@ many readers as needed).")
                                out)))))
                  %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/guile-ncurses/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Guile-Ncurses, Scheme interface to the NCurses libraries")
+    (synopsis "Guile bindings to ncurses")
     (description
      "GNU Guile-Ncurses is a library for the Guile Scheme interpreter that
 provides functions for creating text user interfaces.  The text user interface
@@ -258,8 +257,7 @@ menu.")
      `(("ed" ,ed) ("which" ,which) ("guile" ,guile-1.8)
        ("patch/install" ,(search-patch "mcron-install.patch"))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/mcron/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU mcron, a flexible implementation of `cron' in Guile")
+    (synopsis "Run jobs at scheduled times")
     (description
      "The GNU package mcron (Mellor's cron) is a 100% compatible replacement
 for Vixie cron.  It is written in pure Guile, and allows configuration files
diff --git a/gnu/packages/help2man.scm b/gnu/packages/help2man.scm
index 0acd39a524..1dd0d71d91 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/help2man.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/help2man.scm
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
        ;; ("gettext" ,gettext)
        ))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/help2man/")
-    (synopsis "GNU help2man generates man pages from `--help' output")
+    (synopsis "Automatically generate man pages from program --help")
     (description
      "help2man produces simple manual pages from the ‘--help’ and
 ‘--version’ output of other commands.")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/idutils.scm b/gnu/packages/idutils.scm
index 775de18c5c..728bdeb51a 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/idutils.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/idutils.scm
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
                ,(search-patch "diffutils-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
     (arguments `(#:patches (list (assoc-ref %build-inputs "patch/gets"))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/idutils/")
-    (synopsis "GNU Idutils, a text searching utility")
+    (synopsis "Identifier database utilities")
     (description
      "An \"ID database\" is a binary file containing a list of file
 names, a list of tokens, and a sparse matrix indicating which
diff --git a/gnu/packages/indent.scm b/gnu/packages/indent.scm
index c70a790e62..6789908a8d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/indent.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/indent.scm
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
             (sha256 (base32
                      "0f9655vqdvfwbxvs1gpa7py8k1z71aqh8hp73f65vazwbfz436wa"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (synopsis "GNU Indent, a program for code indentation and formatting")
+   (synopsis "Code reformatter")
    (description
     "GNU Indent can be used to make code easier to read. It can also convert
 from one style of writing C to another. Indent understands a substantial
diff --git a/gnu/packages/less.scm b/gnu/packages/less.scm
index 63a3d98a9b..ced14704ff 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/less.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/less.scm
@@ -38,9 +38,7 @@
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (inputs `(("ncurses" ,ncurses)))
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/less/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU less is a program similar to more, but which allows backward
-movement in the file as well as forward movement")
+    (synopsis "Paginator for terminals")
     (description
      "GNU less is a program similar to more, but which allows backward
 movement in the file as well as forward movement. Also, less does not
@@ -48,4 +46,4 @@ have to read the entire input file before starting, so with large input
 files it starts up faster than text editors like vi. Less uses
 termcap (or terminfo on some systems), so it can run on a variety of
 terminals. There is even limited support for hardcopy terminals.")
-    (license gpl3+))) ; some files are under GPLv2+
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license gpl3+))) ; some files are under GPLv2+
diff --git a/gnu/packages/libidn.scm b/gnu/packages/libidn.scm
index b49a2018ca..dcb0872f30 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/libidn.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/libidn.scm
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
                      "0g657kv60rh486m7bwyp5k24ljmym4wnb8nmk6d3i3qgr1qlqbqa"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
 ;; FIXME: No Java and C# libraries are currently built.
-   (synopsis "GNU Libidn, a library to encode and decode internationalised domain names")
+   (synopsis "Internationalized string processing library")
    (description
     "GNU Libidn is a fully documented implementation of the Stringprep,
 Punycode and IDNA specifications. Libidn's purpose is to encode and decode
diff --git a/gnu/packages/libsigsegv.scm b/gnu/packages/libsigsegv.scm
index d73056892c..12cb4ba3b4 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/libsigsegv.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/libsigsegv.scm
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
              (base32 "16hrs8k3nmc7a8jam5j1fpspd6sdpkamskvsdpcw6m29vnis8q44"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/libsigsegv/")
-   (synopsis "GNU libsigsegv, a library to handle page faults in user mode")
+   (synopsis "Library for handling page faults")
    (description
 "GNU libsigsegv is a library for handling page faults in user mode. A page
 fault occurs when a program tries to access to a region of memory that is
diff --git a/gnu/packages/libunistring.scm b/gnu/packages/libunistring.scm
index 92241d891b..2dbfee70f1 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/libunistring.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/libunistring.scm
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
               "18q620269xzpw39dwvr9zpilnl2dkw5z5kz3mxaadnpv4k3kw3b1"))))
    (propagated-inputs '())                  ; FIXME: add libiconv when !glibc
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
-   (synopsis "GNU Libunistring, a Unicode string library")
+   (synopsis "C library for manipulating Unicode strings")
    (description
     "This library provides functions for manipulating Unicode strings and for
 manipulating C strings according to the Unicode standard.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/linux.scm b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
index b97315580b..ca4ca563a3 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/linux.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/linux.scm
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@
                   'install ,install-phase
                   (alist-delete 'configure %standard-phases)))
        #:tests? #f))
-    (synopsis "GNU Linux-Libre kernel")
+    (synopsis "100% free redistribution of a cleaned Linux kernel")
     (description "Linux-Libre operating system kernel.")
     (license gpl2)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/linux-libre/"))))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/lsh.scm b/gnu/packages/lsh.scm
index 5b3e9a7e0b..c031b287a1 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/lsh.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/lsh.scm
@@ -117,8 +117,7 @@
              (which "cat"))))
         %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/lsh/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU lsh, a GPL'd implementation of the SSH protocol")
+    (synopsis "GNU implementation of the Secure Shell (ssh) protocols")
     (description
      "lsh is a free implementation (in the GNU sense) of the ssh
 version 2 protocol, currently being standardised by the IETF
diff --git a/gnu/packages/m4.scm b/gnu/packages/m4.scm
index eb114c7514..0be1824382 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/m4.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/m4.scm
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
              ("patch/readlink-EINVAL"
               ,(search-patch "m4-readlink-EINVAL.patch"))
              ("patch/gets" ,(search-patch "m4-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
-   (synopsis "GNU M4, a macro processor")
+   (synopsis "Macro processor")
    (description
     "GNU M4 is an implementation of the traditional Unix macro processor.  It
 is mostly SVR4 compatible although it has some extensions (for example,
diff --git a/gnu/packages/mailutils.scm b/gnu/packages/mailutils.scm
index d9f26323e8..15ca939e66 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/mailutils.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/mailutils.scm
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
        ("patch/gets-undeclared"
         ,(search-patch "m4-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/mailutils/")
-    (synopsis "A rich and powerful protocol-independent mail framework")
+    (synopsis "Utilities and library for reading and serving mail")
     (description
      "GNU Mailutils is a rich and powerful protocol-independent mail
 framework.  It contains a series of useful mail libraries, clients, and
diff --git a/gnu/packages/multiprecision.scm b/gnu/packages/multiprecision.scm
index 7778552b40..a6130dccfa 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/multiprecision.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/multiprecision.scm
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
                   ;; sub-architectures.
                   "--enable-fat"
                   "--enable-cxx")))
-   (synopsis "GMP, the GNU multiple precision arithmetic library")
+   (synopsis "Multiple-precision arithmetic library")
    (description
     "GMP is a free library for arbitrary precision arithmetic, operating on
 signed integers, rational numbers, and floating point numbers.  There is no
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ faster algorithms.")
                      "0ym1ylcq803n52qrggxqmkz66gbn8ncc3ybawal31v5y5p1srma9"))))
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (propagated-inputs `(("gmp" ,gmp)))            ; <mpfr.h> refers to <gmp.h>
-   (synopsis "GNU MPFR, a library for multiple-precision floating-point
-arithmetic")
+   (synopsis "C library for arbitrary precision floating-point arithmetic")
    (description
     "The GNU MPFR library is a C library for multiple-precision
 floating-point computations with correct rounding.  MPFR is based on the GMP
@@ -109,8 +108,7 @@ double-precision floating-point arithmetic (53-bit mantissa).")
    (build-system gnu-build-system)
    (propagated-inputs `(("gmp" ,gmp)              ; <mpc.h> refers to both
                         ("mpfr" ,mpfr)))
-   (synopsis "GNU MPC, a library for multiprecision complex arithmetic
-with exact rounding")
+   (synopsis "C library for arbitrary precision complex arithmetic")
    (description
     "GNU MPC is a C library for the arithmetic of complex numbers with
 arbitrarily high precision and correct rounding of the result. It extends
diff --git a/gnu/packages/nano.scm b/gnu/packages/nano.scm
index 09fbe7f168..00cdd6debb 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/nano.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/nano.scm
@@ -42,11 +42,10 @@
      `(("gettext" ,guix:gettext)
        ("ncurses" ,ncurses)))
     (home-page "http://www.nano-editor.org/")
-    (synopsis
-     "A small, user-friendly console text editor")
+    (synopsis "A small, user-friendly console text editor")
     (description
      "GNU nano is designed to be a free replacement for the Pico text
 editor, part of the Pine email suite from The University of
 Washington. It aims to emulate Pico as closely as possible and perhaps
 include extra functionality.")
-    (license gpl3+))) ; some files are under GPLv2+
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license gpl3+))) ; some files are under GPLv2+
diff --git a/gnu/packages/ncurses.scm b/gnu/packages/ncurses.scm
index f790e6e38f..5199ec7c23 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/ncurses.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/ncurses.scm
@@ -107,8 +107,7 @@
                     ,configure-phase
                     %standard-phases)))))
      (self-native-input? #t)
-     (synopsis
-      "GNU Ncurses, a free software emulation of curses in SVR4 and more")
+     (synopsis "Terminal emulation (termcap, terminfo) library")
      (description
       "The Ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation of curses
 in System V Release 4.0, and more.  It uses Terminfo format, supports pads
diff --git a/gnu/packages/nettle.scm b/gnu/packages/nettle.scm
index 6a0b6ef40a..3ea4eb79e1 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/nettle.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/nettle.scm
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
     (inputs `(("m4" ,m4)))
     (propagated-inputs `(("gmp" ,gmp)))
     (home-page "http://www.lysator.liu.se/~nisse/nettle/")
-    (synopsis "GNU Nettle, a cryptographic library")
+    (synopsis "C library for low-level crytographic functionality")
     (description
      "Nettle is a cryptographic library that is designed to fit easily
 in more or less any context: In crypto toolkits for object-oriented
diff --git a/gnu/packages/oggvorbis.scm b/gnu/packages/oggvorbis.scm
index 636bf44106..888e5715f2 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/oggvorbis.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/oggvorbis.scm
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@ polyphonic) audio and music at fixed and variable bitrates from 16 to
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (inputs `(("libogg" ,libogg)))
     (home-page "https://gnu.org/software/speex")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Speex, a patent-free voice codec")
+    (synopsis "Library for patent-free audio compression format")
     (description
      "GNU Speex is a patent-free voice codec.  It is designed to
 compress voice at bitrates in the 2--45 kbps range.  Possible
diff --git a/gnu/packages/parted.scm b/gnu/packages/parted.scm
index b99c52e457..1f266c9035 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/parted.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/parted.scm
@@ -58,8 +58,7 @@
        ("readline" ,readline)
        ("util-linux" ,util-linux)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Parted, a tool to manipulate partitions")
+    (synopsis "Disk partition editor")
     (description
      "GNU Parted is an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying,
 resizing, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them.  This
@@ -68,4 +67,4 @@ usage, copying data on hard disks and disk imaging.
 
 It contains a library, libparted, and a command-line frontend, parted, which
 also serves as a sample implementation and script backend.")
-    (license gpl3+)))
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license gpl3+)))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/pth.scm b/gnu/packages/pth.scm
index b0d5092cb0..c3f572574e 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/pth.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/pth.scm
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (arguments '(#:parallel-build? #f))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/pth")
-    (synopsis "The GNU Portable Threads library")
+    (synopsis "Portable thread library")
     (description
      "Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix
 platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for
diff --git a/gnu/packages/readline.scm b/gnu/packages/readline.scm
index e73b293ba3..8857666fcc 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/readline.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/readline.scm
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
                              'install 'post-install
                              ,post-install-phase
                              %standard-phases)))
-      (synopsis "GNU Readline, a library for interactive line editing")
+      (synopsis "Edit command lines while typing, with history support")
       (description
        "The GNU Readline library provides a set of functions for use by
 applications that allow users to edit command lines as they are typed in.
diff --git a/gnu/packages/recutils.scm b/gnu/packages/recutils.scm
index fecb209deb..7b4828995e 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/recutils.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/recutils.scm
@@ -46,8 +46,7 @@
              ("patch/gets"
               ,(search-patch "diffutils-gets-undeclared.patch"))))
    (arguments `(#:patches (list (assoc-ref %build-inputs "patch/gets"))))
-   (synopsis "GNU recutils, tools and libraries to access human-editable,
-text-based databases")
+   (synopsis "Manipulate plain text files as databases")
    (description
     "GNU recutils is a set of tools and libraries to access human-editable,
 text-based databases called recfiles.  The data is stored as a sequence of
diff --git a/gnu/packages/scheme.scm b/gnu/packages/scheme.scm
index 4b42f8c53c..49b6df9b0d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/scheme.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/scheme.scm
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
               (base32
                "0pclakzwxbqgy6wqwvs6ml62wgby8ba8xzmwzdwhx1v8wv05yw1j"))))))))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/mit-scheme/")
-    (synopsis "MIT/GNU Scheme, a native code Scheme compiler")
+    (synopsis "Scheme implementation with integrated editor and debugger")
     (description
      "MIT/GNU Scheme is an implementation of the Scheme programming
 language, providing an interpreter, compiler, source-code debugger,
diff --git a/gnu/packages/screen.scm b/gnu/packages/screen.scm
index ea1c21716a..5bace12070 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/screen.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/screen.scm
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
      `(("ncurses", ncurses)
        ("perl" ,perl)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/")
-    (synopsis "GNU Screen, a terminal multiplexer")
+    (synopsis "Full-screen window manager providing multiple terminals")
     (description
      "GNU screen is a full-screen window manager that multiplexes a physical
 terminal between several processes, typically interactive shells. Each virtual
diff --git a/gnu/packages/shishi.scm b/gnu/packages/shishi.scm
index 767037a580..0a49f47ded 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/shishi.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/shishi.scm
@@ -46,8 +46,7 @@
        ("libgcrypt" ,libgcrypt)
        ("libtasn1" ,libtasn1)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/shishi/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Shishi, an implementation of the Kerberos 5 network security system")
+    (synopsis "Implementation of the Kerberos 5 network security system")
     (description
      "Shishi contains a library ('libshishi') that can be used by application
 developers to add support for Kerberos 5.  Shishi contains a command line
diff --git a/gnu/packages/smalltalk.scm b/gnu/packages/smalltalk.scm
index 233068509d..1b4a3289ac 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/smalltalk.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/smalltalk.scm
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@
                        (("@LIBC_SO_DIR@")  (string-append libc "/lib")))))
                 %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/smalltalk/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Smalltalk, a free implementation of the Smalltalk-80 language")
+    (synopsis "Smalltalk environment")
     (description
      "GNU Smalltalk is a free implementation of the Smalltalk-80 language.
 
diff --git a/gnu/packages/system.scm b/gnu/packages/system.scm
index 1eddd6de86..5bd8cbe881 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/system.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/system.scm
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@
         "18w0dbg77i56cx1bwa789w0qi3l4xkkbascxcv2b6gbm0zmjg1g6"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/pies/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Pies, a program invocation and execution supervisor")
+    (synopsis "Program invocation and execution supervisor")
     (description
      "The name Pies (pronounced \"p-yes\") stands for Program Invocation
 and Execution Supervisor.  This utility starts and controls execution of
@@ -81,8 +80,7 @@ it can replace the inetd utility!")
     (inputs `(("patch/gets" ,(search-patch "diffutils-gets-undeclared.patch"))
               ("ncurses" ,ncurses)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Inetutils, a collection of common network programs")
+    (synopsis "Basic networking utilities")
     (description
      "The GNU network utilities suite provides the following tools:
 ftp(d), hostname, ifconfig, inetd, logger, ping, rcp, rexec(d),
diff --git a/gnu/packages/texinfo.scm b/gnu/packages/texinfo.scm
index 4194f48ffe..b418acf35d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/texinfo.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/texinfo.scm
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
     ;; TODO: Remove Perl from here when 'patch-shebang' DTRT with /usr/bin/env.
     (propagated-inputs `(("perl" ,perl)))         ; yuck!
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/")
-    (synopsis "GNU Texinfo, the GNU documentation system")
+    (synopsis "The GNU documentation format")
     (description
      "Texinfo is the official documentation format of the GNU project.
 It was invented by Richard Stallman and Bob Chassell many years
diff --git a/gnu/packages/time.scm b/gnu/packages/time.scm
index cfb3261f94..8d55905eec 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/time.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/time.scm
@@ -49,9 +49,7 @@
                                     (string-append "--prefix=" out)))))
                       %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/time/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Time, a tool that runs programs and summarizes the system
-resources they use")
+    (synopsis "Run a command, then display its resource usage")
     (description
      "The 'time' command runs another program, then displays information
 about the resources used by that program, collected by the system while
diff --git a/gnu/packages/wdiff.scm b/gnu/packages/wdiff.scm
index 02d536c7de..b9fccb97db 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/wdiff.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/wdiff.scm
@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@
     (inputs `(("screen" ,screen)
               ("which" ,which)))
     (home-page "https://www.gnu.org/software/wdiff/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Wdiff, a tool for comparing files on a word by word basis")
+    (synopsis "Word difference finder")
     (description
      "GNU Wdiff is a front end to 'diff' for comparing files on a word per
 word basis.  A word is anything between whitespace.  This is useful for
@@ -58,4 +57,4 @@ paragraphs have been refilled.  It works by creating two temporary files, one
 word per line, and then executes 'diff' on these files.  It collects the
 'diff' output and uses it to produce a nicer display of word differences
 between the original files.")
-    (license gpl3+)))
\ No newline at end of file
+    (license gpl3+)))
diff --git a/gnu/packages/wget.scm b/gnu/packages/wget.scm
index ea31a1e70d..0436c0d8c3 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/wget.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/wget.scm
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@
                                       '("doc/texi2pod.pl" "tests/run-px")))
                           %standard-phases)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Wget, a tool for retrieving files using HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP")
+    (synopsis "Non-interactive command-line utility for downloading files")
     (description
      "GNU Wget is a free software package for retrieving files using HTTP,
 HTTPS and FTP, the most widely-used Internet protocols.  It is a
diff --git a/gnu/packages/which.scm b/gnu/packages/which.scm
index aa5330cad7..27d8094b00 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/which.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/which.scm
@@ -36,8 +36,7 @@
         "1y2p50zadb36izzh2zw4dm5hvdiydqf3qa88l8kav20dcmfbc5yl"))))
     (build-system gnu-build-system)
     (home-page "https://gnu.org/software/which/")
-    (synopsis
-     "GNU Which shows the full path of (shell) commands")
+    (synopsis "Find full path of shell commands")
     (description
      "GNU Which takes one or more arguments. For each of its arguments
 it prints to stdout the full path of the executables that would have
diff --git a/gnu/packages/zile.scm b/gnu/packages/zile.scm
index b5366c046f..6e540ccfab 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/zile.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/zile.scm
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
        ("perl" ,perl)
        ("help2man" ,help2man)))
     (home-page "http://www.gnu.org/software/zile/")
-    (synopsis "GNU Zile, a lightweight Emacs clone")
+    (synopsis "Zile is lossy Emacs, a lightweight Emacs clone")
     (description
      "GNU Zile, which is a lightweight Emacs clone.  Zile is short
 for Zile Is Lossy Emacs.  Zile has been written to be as