Re: mdash in markup?

[James Harkins]

David Kastrup <dak <at> gnu.org> writes:

> > This bugs me because a/ I tend to read text and skim examples
> 
> You stop reading text in mid-sentence because it contains code?

Nice try, but I won't take that bait.

> > and (more importantly) b/ it's imprecise. Here, I was left to guess
> > about the criticality of include-special- characters, and I guessed
> > wrong.
> 
> Didn't you admit not even reading that sentence?  It does not state "A
> list of ASCII aliases _is_ included" but rather "it _can_ be included".

If it goes so far as to say "it *can* be included," then it can go further 
to explain *how* to include it: "can be included by..."

But no matter. I'll send a patch in a separate thread (because I can't 
attach a patch by gmane). Then, the next person to encounter this problem 
will be less likely to overlook the detail, and the question won't arise on 
the list.

> > My point is, why should I have had to guess in the first place?
> 
> More like "why should you have to read in the first place".

Nice try, but I won't take that bait.

I'm often guilty on the SC mailing list of implying that users are not 
taking enough responsibility for their own learning if they missed some 
detail in the documentation. Lately, I'm learning: if I'm tempted to lobby 
this sort of indictment, it's better if I just delete the message and let 
someone else answer. It saves me from some degree of stress.

> But there is no question that with the given interface, this feature
> _must_ default to being off.

Yes, indeed.

hjh