Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1998 01:58:38 +1000 From: Stephen McKay <syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au> To: freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Cc: syssgm@dtir.qld.gov.au Subject: Re: whose english is it anyway? Message-ID: <199804111558.BAA06262@troll.dtir.qld.gov.au> In-Reply-To: <00d501bd6504$3e926ce0$c9252fce@cello.synapse.net> from "Evan Champion" at "11 Apr 1998 14:41:37 %2B1000" References: <00d501bd6504$3e926ce0$c9252fce@cello.synapse.net>
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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
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