On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 08:54:38 -0600, Joel Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
> The best answer, thus, is probably to remove the entire construct,
> since it is easily confusing and prone to argument, and replace it
> with a simpler and more easily construed one, such as "The voting
> mechanism cannot currently handle encrypted ballots; if you encrypt
> your ballot, it will be rejected."
The replacement text you propose does not convey the same
meaning as the original did; and trying to convey the nuances in
less precise speech would make the construct cumbersome. ("shall not"
is a more emphatic term, and the "cannot currently handle" implies
intent that is not correct).
> Ambiguity and working the brain is a good thing in literature, and a
> very bad thing when writing documentation, especially technical
> documentation (which is what instructions on using our voting system
> are, by nature).
I somehow doubt that people won't replace "shall" with
"will"; or that some how "He shall not" is construed as "He may" by
my fellow non-native speaker.
manoj
--
All bridge hands are equally likely, but some are more equally likely
than others. Alan Truscott
Manoj Srivastava <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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