Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 09:50:56 +0930 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Stephen McKay <mckay@thehub.com.au> Cc: Tim Vanderhoek <hoek@FreeBSD.org>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Punctuation conventions (was: cvs commit: src/games/fortune/datfiles fortunes) Message-ID: <20000601095056.D16657@wantadilla.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <200005311543.BAA03923@dungeon.home> References: <20000528135144.B15565@wantadilla.lemis.com> <200005311543.BAA03923@dungeon.home>
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On Thursday, 1 June 2000 at 1:43:17 +1000, Stephen McKay wrote: > Greg Lehey wrote: >> IIRC we agreed to disagree in general on points of spelling and >> punctuation which differ from one country to another, even though >> we've agreed to stick to two spaces in the documentation project. I >> think it's inappropriate to single people out because they choose to >> use a different but valid punctuation convention from the one you do. >> >> In case you missed it, in England and Australia the convention is one >> space after a full stop. > > I agree with your view of retaining the home country quirks of individual > writers (it particularly irritates me when documents written in English > are converted to American), and I don't like individuals pointed out > negatively in commit logs. But your facts are in error. > > There is no "one space" convention in Australia. I learned typing in school > (an actually useful skill, no less), and two spaces were mandatory. I can > accept the possibility of regional variation among states, or the more > probable dilution of skill due to increased foreign word processor use, > but the two space rule has not to my knowledge been revoked. My statement was based on observation. If you have any documentary backup, it would interest me. > Um. I think I'll send this rant to -chat. BTW, I'm not currently > subscribed to -chat if you want to take me to task for my evil ways. > I note with some amusement that you included two spaces in the only > place in your message where an inter-sentence gap appeared. What > are your true feelings on this issue? ;-) I didn't say I was conventional :-) I use the two space convention because I find it more convenient. But most text written in Australia or England has a single space after the full stop. Period. Greg -- Finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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