| Paul Hampson 2004-08-03, 2:49 am |
| On Tue, Aug 03, 2004 at 01:02:10PM +1000, Ben Burton wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
> Well I tend to use "they" / "their" myself, which is in fairly common
> usage. e.g.:
> If a student falls asleep in class, they will probably absorb the
> material at an inferior rate, and their exam results will suffer.
[vbcol=seagreen]
> It's not much of a justification -- it basically amounts to "my way is
> right" followed by a personal insult to anyone who disagrees.
Hmm. I feel you may not have read the first two paragraphs of that, and
have only responded to the last.
I'm not staying that the linked text is _right_ and the earlier,
gender-neutral, usages are _wrong_. I am just presenting a justification
of which I am aware (and personally accept) to ensure that any debate
that arises here is as well informed as possible.
> Switching to gender-neutral language is not exactly an outrageous ask.
> Official, technical and scientific documents manage it all the time.
And often produces bizarre results... I've seen text which has
alternated he and she, when referring to the same indefinate person...
Thankfully, not often. :-)
Anyway, this is why I asked if Debian has a policy about this. While I
prefer the usage I linked above, I am willing to accede to whatever the
local style policy is. :-)
--
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Paul "TBBle" Hampson, MCSE
7th year CompSci/Asian Studies student, ANU
The Boss, Bubblesworth Pty Ltd (ABN: 51 095 284 361)
Paul.Hampson@Anu.edu.au
"No survivors? Then where do the stories come from I wonder?"
-- Capt. Jack Sparrow, "Pirates of the Caribbean"
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