Re: [GNU Autoconf 2.59c] testsuite ... 63 64 66 67 73 ... failed

[Derek Price]

Stepan Kasal wrote:

>thank you for correcting me.  A question: is it correct that there is a comma
>before the "and"?
>  
>

It depends who you listen to.  I generally go by the Fourth edition of
Strunk & White's, "The Elements of Style", which says, yes, there should
always be a comma before the "and" or "or" in a list longer than two
elements.  Strunk & White is a widely accepted and oft quoted reference
on English grammar and punctuation and has been around since 1957.

My understanding by word-of-mouth, though I've never seen it in print,
is that losing the comma is becoming more acceptable simply because most
people do not recall the rule and so almost everyone does it nowadays
anyhow.


>Another observing: "... the arguments of XYZ commands be separated ... 
>command."
>I feel a bit uneasy about the repeating of the word "command".
>  
>

I don't in this context, but I like your rewording.  Briefer is usually
better if you can encapsulate the same information.  :)

>So, what about:
>Also note that Posix requires that the @samp{b}, @samp{t}, @samp{r} and
>@samp{w} commands be followed by exactly one space before their argument.
>  
>

So, basically, sure.  I'm ambivalent about the comma and the rewording
is definitely an improvement.

Cheers,

Derek