Path: utzoo!dptcdc!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pasteur!ames!pacbell!pbhyf!rob
From: rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: Elm 2.2 miscellany
Message-ID: <5043@pbhyf.PacBell.COM>
Date: 17 Apr 89 21:43:47 GMT
References: <5191@nis.mn.org> <5192@nis.mn.org> <5006@pbhyf.PacBell.COM> <5197@nis.mn.org> <5013@pbhyf.PacBell.COM> <5204@nis.mn.org>
Reply-To: rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
Lines: 40

In article <5204@nis.mn.org> pnessutt@nis.mn.org (Robert A. Monio) writes:
+In article <5013@pbhyf.PacBell.COM> rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo) writes:
+>You asked "Why overdo it?" and my response was more or less "Why do you
+>consider use of punctuation 'overdoing it'?" Do you think punctuation
+>has no place in user messages? If not, when should punctuation not be
+>used in the way it is in normal writing?
+
+Of course not.  I'm not referring to 'user' messages.  I'm referring
+to the fact that someone put '.'s in each of the status messages from
+Elm.  For example: 
+               [Keeping 8 messages and deleting 2.]

FYI, punctuation was put in all user messages, not just that "closing" message
you reference here. There was a rather inconsistent use of punctuation,
capitalization, and more important - terminology in user messages.

+My reference to overdoing the periods may be a bit extreme, but it's
+just damn annoying.  As someone in another message noted, this usage
+is uncommon.  It sticks out like a sore thumb.  
+      
+>I can't respond to "Why overdo it?" if I don't see something as 
+>"overdone", because you're remark comes across like someone saying
+>that the maid made the house "too clean" or that the painter's work
+>was "too careful".  I'm asking these questions to understand where you're 
+>coming from because we have different points of view.
+
+Understood.  I hope my explanation above is enough to warrant a
+decent answer.

The answer to your question is: To the person on the development team 
who put in the punctuation simply didn't view this the same way 
("sticks out like a sore thumb", "uncommon") as you. (To a large 
extent, it *is* a matter of taste.) After the change was distributed 
to the entire development team there was nary a peep of criticism, so 
the change stuck. 
-- 
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell UNIX/C Reusable Code Library
Email:     ...![backbone]!pacbell!pbhyf!rob   OR  rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM
Office:    (415) 823-2417  Room 4E850O San Ramon Valley Administrative Center
Residence: (415) 827-4301  R Bar JB, Concord, California