From owner-freebsd-current Sat Apr 11 09:01:28 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id JAA20466 for freebsd-current-outgoing; Sat, 11 Apr 1998 09:01:28 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from ren.dtir.qld.gov.au (firewall-user@ns.dtir.qld.gov.au [203.108.138.66]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id JAA20461 for ; Sat, 11 Apr 1998 09:01:26 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au) Received: by ren.dtir.qld.gov.au; id BAA07463; Sun, 12 Apr 1998 01:59:06 +1000 (EST) Received: from ogre.dtir.qld.gov.au(167.123.8.3) by ren.dtir.qld.gov.au via smap (3.2) id xma007458; Sun, 12 Apr 98 01:58:42 +1000 Received: from troll.dtir.qld.gov.au (troll.dtir.qld.gov.au [167.123.8.1]) by ogre.dtir.qld.gov.au (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id BAA05653 for ; Sun, 12 Apr 1998 01:58:42 +1000 (EST) Received: from localhost (syssgm@localhost) by troll.dtir.qld.gov.au (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id BAA06262; Sun, 12 Apr 1998 01:58:38 +1000 (EST) Message-Id: <199804111558.BAA06262@troll.dtir.qld.gov.au> X-Authentication-Warning: troll.dtir.qld.gov.au: syssgm@localhost didn't use HELO protocol To: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG cc: syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au Subject: Re: whose english is it anyway? References: <00d501bd6504$3e926ce0$c9252fce@cello.synapse.net> In-Reply-To: <00d501bd6504$3e926ce0$c9252fce@cello.synapse.net> from "Evan Champion" at "11 Apr 1998 14:41:37 +1000" Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 01:58:38 +1000 From: Stephen McKay Sender: owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Saturday, 11th April 1998, "Evan Champion" wrote: >>> On Sat, 11 Apr 1998, John Birrell wrote: >>> > Chad M. Fraleigh wrote: >>> > > "authorisation" should be "authorization". >>> > >>> > In my _*English*_ dictionary, either is acceptable. >Given that FreeBSD is largely an American >project, consistent use of American spellings would seem to be the most >appropriate solution (as much as I prefer British English :-) I don't like the way this was phrased. Is FreeBSD an American project? I think of it as a global project, and I hope most other people do too. The American flavour is an accident of birth, not a central feature. Rather than promote consistent American spelling I would prefer to retain the original author's dialect on a file by file basis. Yes, this is a rather odd view to hold in today's monoculture. Perhaps it comes from using a minority language (Australian English) and a minority within a minority OS (FreeBSD as a subset of Unix). I like to think of it as a sort of conservation of variety, a parallel to the conservation of genetic diversity that people are just starting to wake up to. So, after all that rambling, let's keep any correct spelling, even if it isn't what you would have used yourself. Stephen. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message