[Python-Dev] Re: PEP 1, PEP Purpose and Guidelines

[François Pinard]

[Greg Ewing]

> pinard@iro.umontreal.ca:

> > It is more reasonable to always give the real name, optionally
> > followed by an email, that to consider that the real name is a mere
> > comment for the email address.

> Not necessarily -- it depends on your point of view.

An email address may change over time, but one's name do not change
often.  In a lifetime of maintenance, I saw email addresses of a lot of
correspondents fluctuate more or less over time.  Only two or three persons
asked me to correct their name after they got it legalistically modified.

The contact point for a PEP is really a given human, whatever his/her
email address may currently be.  The modern Internet usage is to write
the name first, and the email address after, between angular brackets.
So, I'm suggesting that the PEP documents the popular, modern usage.

> I've always thought of the "To:" line as an address, not a salutation.

It is dual.  The human reads the civil name, the machine reads the email
address.  Many MUA's have limited space for the message summaries, and
they favour the civil name over the email address in the listings.

-- 
François Pinard   http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~pinard