Improve README documentation clarity

[amahi1568]

This pull request improves the clarity of the README documentation by refining wording.
No functional or behavioral changes are introduced.

Checklist:

• This pull request addresses just one issue and does not include unrelated changes.
• Each commit has a meaningful subject and body.
• Unit tests were added or updated where applicable (not applicable for documentation-only changes).
• mvn verify was run (not required for documentation-only changes).
• Core ITs were run (not applicable).

Licensing:

• I hereby declare this contribution to be licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004.
• In any other case, an Apache Individual Contributor License Agreement (ICLA) has been filed.

[slawekjaranowski]

we use such sentence in many place .... I would like to first discuss, confirm it on ML
Next we should change it globally

[elharo]

We've discussed it before. I'd prefer not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Fixing one awkward, unclear doc out of 100 is better than leaving it alone while we figure out how to fix the other 99. Since we're not a mono-repo we'll never fix them all at the same time anyway.

[gnodet]

Claude Code on behalf of Guillaume Nodet

The phrase "software project management and comprehension tool" is Maven's long-standing canonical description, used consistently on the Maven website and across official documentation. While "build automation" is how many people think of Maven in practice, the word "comprehension" was chosen deliberately to convey that Maven is about more than just building — it also helps developers understand a project (dependencies, structure, reports, documentation).

I'd recommend closing this PR as the current wording is intentional, not unclear.

[gnodet]

This changes Maven's canonical self-description. The phrase "software project management and comprehension tool" has been Maven's official tagline for over 20 years (see maven.apache.org). The word "comprehension" is intentional — it refers to Maven's ability to help developers understand a project (dependency tree, reports, site docs), not just build it.

Replacing it with "build automation" narrows the meaning and diverges from the project's established identity. I would keep the original wording.

[gnodet]

This PR replaces Maven's long-standing self-description ("comprehension") with "build automation" in the README.

1. Inconsistency with current website (medium)
The Maven website (maven.apache.org) now describes Maven as "a build tool for Java projects." The PR's proposed "build automation" is a third distinct variant — different from both the old README wording ("comprehension") and the current website wording. If the README is to be updated, the new wording should align with the official website description.

2. Mailing list discussion requested (medium)
A committer (slawekjaranowski) filed CHANGES_REQUESTED asking for mailing list discussion before changing this phrase, since it appears in many places across the project ecosystem and should be changed globally if changed at all. That discussion does not appear to have occurred.

3. Previous review context (low)
A prior review stated that the Maven website uses "comprehension," but the website has since been updated and no longer uses that exact phrase. This weakens the "canonical description" argument but does not resolve the governance question.

The core question — what Maven's official self-description should be — is a project governance decision. The contributor should be encouraged to bring the topic to dev@maven.apache.org for discussion before proceeding.

This review was generated by an AI agent and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify all suggestions before applying.

Claude Code on behalf of gnodet

[gnodet]

Summary

The outstanding CHANGES_REQUESTED from @slawekjaranowski (Feb 2026) asking for a mailing list discussion before changing Maven's canonical self-description has not been addressed — the author has been silent for ~7 months.

The proposed wording "build automation" introduces a third variant that matches neither the historical README ("comprehension") nor the current Maven website ("a build tool for Java projects"). Two committers (@slawekjaranowski and @gnodet) have noted this is a project identity decision that belongs on dev@maven.apache.org.

The original term "comprehension" was chosen deliberately to convey that Maven helps developers understand a project (dependencies, structure, reports, documentation), not just build it. Replacing it with "build automation" narrows Maven's self-described scope.

Recommendation: The author should either start a discussion on dev@maven.apache.org about Maven's canonical description, or this stale PR could be closed.

This review was generated by an AI agent and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify all suggestions before applying.

Claude Code on behalf of Guillaume Nodet