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Re: DEP1: Non Maintainer Uploads (final call for review)



Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org> wrote:
> MJ Ray <mjr@phonecoop.coop> writes:
> > However, balance of examples and judicious use of "one" and "a
> > developer" would be better than butchering the English language and
> > making the document more confusing by using "they" to stand for a
> > definite singular quantity without context.
>
> "They" has been used for exactly that purpose in English for centuries and
> is used naturally and routinely by English speakers in common speech. [...]

No, it hasn't.  It is used naturally for indeterminates.  Using it for
singulars sounds stilted and contrived.  The developer is clearly not
an indeterminate.  This was covered in a thread around
http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2005/01/msg00360.html

Thanks,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef)
Webmaster for hire, statistician and online shop builder for a small
worker cooperative http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ http://mjr.towers.org.uk/
(Notice http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html) tel:+44-844-4437-237


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