David Gray wrote: > > On 21st September, Dave Mayall wrote: > > >FWIW, I am at present somewhat persuaded of the > >merits of this argument, and I'm going to spend a > >couple of days looking at some images. > > >This is despite the fact that life would be > >easier for me if I stuck to the present line, and > >told those who were advised to omit the periods > >to complain to those who gave them the advice :-) > > On 30th September Graham Hart wrote: > > >We had people awayfor the past few weeks .. we should be back toa > full > >complement this week and so we willtry to get this sorted out > >definiteively and let you know. > > On 21st October Dave Mayall wrote: > > >We are busy evaluating how many files have been affected by the > >confusion caused by unofficial policies being developed. Once we > have > >worked out how best to fix the problem caused, we will offer > further > >advice. > > On 22nd October Dave Mayall wrote: > > >The position is that failing to include a period that is in the > index > >is WRONG. We are looking into how we can deal with the large number > of > >incorrect files that already exist. It isn't something that you can > >choose. > > It seems from this last message that all the previous correspondence on the > subject has been a complete waste of time. There are times when I think that I should give up on actually providing informative responses to queries. I could just as easily say "We are looking into this and will say nothing until we have decided! In a (probably vain) attempt to explain the position, I will try and set it out. 1) Omitting to transcribe the period is not typing what you see, so it is in a strict sense WRONG. 2) I am somewhat persuaded by the argument that the period imparts no useful information. 3) Even if the period imparts no information, failing to transcribe it would still be wrong. It would just be a form of wrong that wasn't too big a problem, and that we could allow for. 4) If you believe that any discussion that ultimately ends up not coming to a conclusion that you agree with is a waste of time, then I really can't help. -- Dave Mayall