A clear understanding of what a tool does is critical to its adoption.
The definitions of "clear" differ depending on who the target audience is. If you're assuming a heterogenous group of unknown faces, then you aim for colloquial and simplified language.
When marketing to programmers, however, the use of technical jargon and specific concepts is an absolute necessity for something to attain clarity. It's the avoidance of such that obfuscates meaning.
The nerd-centric viewpoint that tool should succeed entirely on their own merits, with no affordances for the user, is crazy
This is a straw man. Introductions can be concise or detailed, but they must convey some of the technical intricacies and underpinnings regarding the software. Using marketing language, clouds of buzzwords and too many dumb copy-paste examples leads to cargo cult development and people who jump on bandwagons as opposed to surveying for what is technically superior.
Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with your one-liner.
The definitions of "clear" differ depending on who the target audience is. If you're assuming a heterogenous group of unknown faces, then you aim for colloquial and simplified language.
When marketing to programmers, however, the use of technical jargon and specific concepts is an absolute necessity for something to attain clarity. It's the avoidance of such that obfuscates meaning.
Here's an example of a good software overview: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/Softwar...
The nerd-centric viewpoint that tool should succeed entirely on their own merits, with no affordances for the user, is crazy
This is a straw man. Introductions can be concise or detailed, but they must convey some of the technical intricacies and underpinnings regarding the software. Using marketing language, clouds of buzzwords and too many dumb copy-paste examples leads to cargo cult development and people who jump on bandwagons as opposed to surveying for what is technically superior.
Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with your one-liner.