Re: [Apbs-users] Suggestions for APBS tutorials

[Michael B. <mb...@de...>]

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 04:01:32PM -0600, Nathan Baker wrote:
> I would like to solicit your help in the following areas:
> 
>    - Suggestions of areas in which new tutorials, examples, or FAQs should
>    be developed
>    - Examples demonstrating the use of APBS, particularly for relative
>    binding free energy calculations and/or MM/PBSA calculations
>    - Overall usability of the new documentation
 
Sorry for hijacking this thread a bit, but I have a slightly related
request:

     - Suggestion on how to summarize what APBS is in one sentence for
       non-scientists, (and maybe a second sentence for scientists).

Currently, the description in the Debian/Ubuntu distribution begin as
follows:

Description: Adaptive Poisson Boltzmann Solver
 APBS is a software package for the numerical solution of the
 Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE), one of the most popular continuum
 models for describing electrostatic interactions between molecular
 solutes in salty, aqueous media.

The first line is the short description and what users are most likely
to be presented with when browsing through packages.  I am quite unhappy
with it as I don't think many people who are not experts in the field
would grasp what this package is about, but I did not yet come up with a
better 1-line summary unfortunately.

Similarly the first sentence ("APBS is a ...") is also not very
informative unless you know what is being talked about.  I guess
something like "APBS can evaluate electrostatic properties (such as ?)
and compute electrostatic interactions for molecules in solution.  It
employs the PBE to describe..." would be better, what do you think?
Maybe the Introduction of the APBS manual could benefit slightly from a
more general initial description as well.


Michael