In message <200604180342.XAA05014@Sparkle.Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA>, der Mouse writes:
> 
> e. e. cummings I'm not. :)  (You're from Spain according to your
> email's domain, and you're asking for help with English, so this may be
> lsot on you without explanation.  e. e. cummings is a writer who wrote
> in English and was known for a lack of capitalization - to the point
> that "e. e. cummings" instead of "E. E. Cummings" is the canonical form
> of the name.)

Indeed, I am from Spain!  It seems that e. e. cummings shoulb be
the preferred author for Californian folks.  Perhaps he had a problem
with the keyboard on his typewriter and no one knows it!  I will look
for some books of e. e. cummings.  I like reading books.  ;)

> > (too many C programming makes people miss that uppercase letters
> > exist, though)  ;-)
> 
> I'd say, rather, that it inculcates attitudes about their use
> that...may seem surprising to those who have not adopted such
> mind-sets.
> 
> For example, when I write "Figs are fruit which...", I capitalize the
> `f' because "figs" is a plain English word, and English is not
> case-sensitive about word identity in almost all cases.  But when I
> write "tr is a command which...", I do not capitalize the `t' because
> "Tr" is semantically very different from "tr" (as contrasted to the
> non-difference between "Figs" and "figs").

It is certainly a *very* serious issue, indeed.  English words are
usually not case sensitive (there are some exceptions as place names
but it is another matter).  But in the case of manual pages it is
a real nightmare.

One of the advantages of the mandoc macros is that typing the names
of commands is not required.  This way, the mandoc macros assure that
capitalization of commands remains right.  A good example is the first
paragraph on make(1).

On the other hand, it is sad to see that some highly BSD commands
have the wrong capitalization on their manual pages.  An example
I would never expect is the vi(1) manual page.  It writes "Vi", "Ex",
"View" and "Nex".  I would be glad to translate that manual page
to mandoc, but don't know if that change would be acceptable.  I do not
expect it to change a lot in the next years, but...

Of course, there is a lot of third party software that shows this
annoying behaviour in its documentation, but vi...

> As it happens, your direct copy arrived intact, so you can send to me
> directly if you want to.

Fine!  If you prefer managing this issue off-line I can send email
directly to you.  If you prefer managing this issue on tha mailing
list I will be glad to continue here too.

> I meant "ping" in the more general sense, in this case referring to a
> "do you get this?" email.

I see!  The HCMP (Human Control Message Protocol) ECHO requests...  :-)

> > but I can reach Sparkle.
> 
> Right, rodents.montreal.qc.ca itself does not have any addresses.  Only
> machines within it do.

I suppose that rodents is not a machine but a domain name...

> > Hope you have the right MX record in the local DNS!
> 
> Well, something seems to have worked!

A well managed nameserver.  :-)

> > I have some issues understanding the behaviour of KASSERT and
> > KDASSERT assertion-checking macros...
> 
> I don't consider myself competent to address this issue.  I have never
> really undestood the mindset behind KASSERT, and until this message
> hadn't noticed KDASSERT at all.  While I can call out semantic mistakes
> when I notice them, I was thinking of myself as more an English touchup
> person than a semantic content checker person.

Ok.  I will do my best to improve the manual pages in the next days.
By now, I will fix it with the changes you suggested and send an updated
version.

Thanks!

Igor.