[spec] comments on the proposed gemini spec revisions

[Pete D.]

> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2021 09:56:32 -0600
> From: Alex // nytpu <alex@nytpu.com>
> To: Gemini Mailing List <gemini@lists.orbitalfox.eu>
> Subject: Re: [spec] comments on the proposed gemini spec revisions
> Message-ID: <20211014155632.tcepvij3ofsv27cw@GLaDOS.local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Just to clarify, the reason there's a debate raised at all about spaces
> or not is that some of the line types have a required space, and the
> rest have optional spaces.  The inconsistency is confusing (as you've
> demonstrated), so it'd be better to either make all the lines have a
> required space, or make all the lines have optional spaces.  Just in my
> own personal opinion on Gemtext style I think it'd be better to make
> them all have mandatory spaces.
>
> ~nytpu


This is on purpose to address instances where folks may have text-style emphasis on a word, starting a line with *bold*, and it was pointed out that this would insert an unwanted unordered list--this could be for existing gopher text files, or for folks trying to add emphasis in their gemtext (since there is no inline emphasis). By requiring the space, it ameliorates that potential problem. So it's not different just to be inconsistent, there's a reason behind it. And the reason the other ones weren't changed was to allow the 'freedom' part, if it's not MUST then it's MAY.