Re: DEP1: Non Maintainer Uploads (final call for review)
On Wed, Aug 13, 2008 at 11:21:09AM +0100, MJ Ray wrote:
> 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
Where by "covered" you mean "you raised objections that most other native
English speakers participating in the thread disagreed with, and then the
patch was committed to use singular 'they'"?
--
Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world.
Ubuntu Developer http://www.debian.org/
slangasek@ubuntu.com vorlon@debian.org
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