cleaning up build instruction files

1 files changed, 53 insertions, 22 deletions

diff --git a/cpp/BuildInstructionsLinux.md b/cpp/BuildInstructionsLinux.md
index b9e50803d6f..bb91d67e767 100644
--- a/cpp/BuildInstructionsLinux.md
+++ b/cpp/BuildInstructionsLinux.md
@@ -1,35 +1,46 @@
 # Building Ice for C++ on Linux
 
-This page describes the Ice source distribution, including information about compiler requirements, third-party dependencies, and instructions for building and testing the distribution. If you prefer, you can install [binary packages](https://doc.zeroc.com/display/Ice36/Using+the+Linux+Binary+Distributions) for supported platforms that contain pre-compiled libraries, executables, and everything else necessary to build Ice applications on Linux.
+This page describes the Ice source distribution, including information about
+compiler requirements, third-party dependencies, and instructions for building
+and testing the distribution. If you prefer, you can install [binary packages][1]
+for supported platforms that contain pre-compiled libraries, executables, and
+everything else necessary to build Ice applications on Linux.
 
-## C++ Build Requirements for Linux
+## C++ Build Requirements
 
 ### Operating Systems and Compilers
 
-Ice is expected to build and run properly on any recent Linux distribution for x86 and x86_64, and was extensively tested using the operating systems and compiler versions listed for our [supported platforms](https://zeroc.com/platforms_3_6_0.html).
+Ice is expected to build and run properly on any recent Linux distribution for
+x86 and x86_64, and was extensively tested using the operating systems and compiler
+versions listed for our [supported platforms][2].
 
 ### Third-Party Libraries
 
 Ice has dependencies on a number of third-party libraries:
 
- - [expat](http://expat.sourceforge.net/) 2.0
- - [OpenSSL](http://openssl.org) 0.9.8 or later
- - [bzip](http://bzip.org) 1.0
- - [Berkeley DB](http://www.oracle.com/us/products/database/berkeley-db/overview/index.htm) 5.3
- - [mcpp](https://github.com/zeroc-ice/mcpp) 2.7.2 (with patches)
+ - [expat][3] 2.0
+ - [OpenSSL][4] 0.9.8 or later
+ - [bzip][5] 1.0
+ - [Berkeley DB][6] 5.3
+ - [mcpp][7] 2.7.2 (with patches)
 
-Expat, OpenSSL and bzip are included with most Linux distributions. ZeroC supplies binary packages for Berkeley DB and mcpp on supported Linux distributions that do not include them:
+Expat, OpenSSL and bzip are included with most Linux distributions. ZeroC supplies
+binary packages for Berkeley DB and mcpp on supported Linux distributions that do
+not include them:
 
-- Berkeley DB 5.3.28 on RHEL 6, SLES12, SLES 11 and AMZN 2015.03
-- mcpp 2.7.2 with patches (```mcpp-devel```) on RHEL 7, RHEL 6, SLES 12, SLES 11 and AMZN 2015.03
+- Berkeley DB 5.3.28 on RHEL 6, SLES12, SLES 11 and Amzn 2015.03
+- mcpp 2.7.2 with patches (`mcpp-devel`) on RHEL 7, RHEL 6, SLES 12, SLES 11
+and Amzn 2015.03
 
 ## Compiling and Testing Ice for C++ on Linux
 
-In a command window, change to the ```cpp``` subdirectory:
+In a command window, change to the `cpp` subdirectory:
 
     $ cd cpp
 
-Edit ```config/Make.rules``` to establish your build configuration. The comments in the file provide more information. Pay particular attention to the variables that define the locations of the third-party libraries.
+Edit `config/Make.rules` to establish your build configuration. The comments in
+the file provide more information. Pay particular attention to the variables
+that define the locations of the third-party libraries.
 
 Now you're ready to build Ice:
 
@@ -37,7 +48,8 @@ Now you're ready to build Ice:
 
 This will build the Ice core libraries, services, and tests.
 
-Python is required to run the test suite. After a successful build, you can run the tests as follows:
+Python is required to run the test suite. After a successful build, you can run
+the tests as follows:
 
     $ make test
 
@@ -45,28 +57,36 @@ This command is equivalent to:
 
     $ python allTests.py
 
-If everything worked out, you should see lots of ```ok``` messages. In case of a failure, the tests abort with ```failed```.
+If everything worked out, you should see lots of `ok` messages. In case of a
+failure, the tests abort with `failed`.
 
 ### 64-bit Source Builds on Linux x86_64
 
 To build Ice in 64-bit mode, you need to do the following:
 
-- Obtain or build all the third-party dependencies, and put the 64-bit libraries in the lib64 directories. For example, put Berkeley DB 64-bit libraries in ```$DB_HOME/lib64```.
+- Obtain or build all the third-party dependencies, and put the 64-bit libraries
+in the lib64 directories. For example, put Berkeley DB 64-bit libraries in
+`$DB_HOME/lib64`.
 - Build and test as described above.
 
 ### 32-bit Source Builds on Linux x86_64
 
-By default, builds on x86_64 are 64-bit. To perform a 32-bit build on an x86_64 Linux system, set the environment variable ```LP64``` to no, as shown below:
+By default, builds on x86_64 are 64-bit. To perform a 32-bit build on an x86_64
+Linux system, set the environment variable `LP64` to no, as shown below:
 
     $ export LP64=no
 
-## Installing a C++ Source Build on Linux
+## Installing a C++ Source Build
 
-Simply run ```make install```. This will install Ice in the directory specified by the ```prefix``` variable in ```config/Make.rules```.
+Simply run `make install`. This will install Ice in the directory specified by
+the `prefix` variable in `config/Make.rules`.
 
-After installation, make sure that the ```prefix/bin``` directory is in your ```PATH```.
+After installation, make sure that the `prefix/bin` directory is in your `PATH`.
 
-If you choose to not embed a ```runpath``` into executables at build time (see your build settings in ```config/Make.rules```) or did not create a symbolic link from the ```runpath``` directory to the installation directory, you also need to add the library directory to your ```LD_LIBRARY_PATH```.
+If you choose to not embed a `runpath` into executables at build time (see your
+build settings in `config/Make.rules`) or did not create a symbolic link from
+the `runpath` directory to the installation directory, you also need to add the
+library directory to your `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`.
 
 On an x86 system, the library directory is:
 
@@ -78,4 +98,15 @@ On an x86_64 system:
     prefix/lib64                 (RHEL, SLES, Amazon)
     prefix/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu  (Ubuntu)
 
-When compiling Ice programs, you must pass the location of the ```prefix/include``` directory to the compiler with the ```-I``` option, and the location of the library directory with the ```-L``` option. If building a C++11 program, you must add the ```/c++11``` suffix to the library directory (such as ```prefix/lib/c++11```).
+When compiling Ice programs, you must pass the location of the `prefix/include`
+directory to the compiler with the `-I` option, and the location of the library
+directory with the `-L` option. If building a C++11 program, you must add the
+`/c++11` suffix to the library directory (such as `prefix/lib/c++11`).
+
+[1]: https://doc.zeroc.com/display/Ice36/Using+the+Linux+Binary+Distributions
+[2]: https://zeroc.com/platforms_3_6_0.html
+[3]: http://expat.sourceforge.net
+[4]: http://openssl.org
+[5]: http://bzip.org
+[6]: http://www.oracle.com/us/products/database/berkeley-db/overview/index.htm
+[7]: https://github.com/zeroc-ice/mcpp