Subject: [bug#59217] Acknowledgement ([PATCH] guix: lint: Improve message in linter warning.)

From: zimoun <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2022 11:13:34 +0100

Hi Arun,

On Tue, 22 Nov 2022 at 20:58, Arun Isaac <[email-masked]> wrote:

> My original point was that the linter should not simply complain about
> the absence of double spaces but also explain why double spaces are
> required. Double spaces are required because Emacs sentence commands
> such as M-a and M-e only work when sentences are separated by double
> spaces. To be honest, I would consider this an Emacs bug. But, it's
> probably impossible to achieve consensus on such a bold claim. ;-)

Indeed, it is impossible to achieve consensus since it is probably not
an Emacs bug but an historical inheritance of typographical convention,
see [1,2].

1: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_spacing>
2: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sentence_spacing>

> So, at the very least, the Guix linter should explain why double spaces
> are required. As a general rule for all linter messages, contributors
> will be happier when the linter explains the rationale for various
> messages. Most people don't like doing things without understanding why
> they have to do them.

Well, maybe a paragraph in the manual under ’(guix) Synopses and
Descriptions’ is a better location for such explanations than the linter
message itself.  WDYT?

Cheers,
simon