Hi, 2012/1/17 lolilolicon <lolilolicon@gmail.com>:
Look at pacman.conf, every directive or option is in CamelCase, and the only things that are (likely) in lowercase are package and repo names and file paths.
I agree that the configuration options are currently in CamelCase and that this is the current situation.
This distinction is good and increases clarity.
Here I disagree, as I think requiring "never" to be written as "Never" is a form of noise. I think it's equally clear to allow "Never" to be written as "never", while having the added benefit of not having to remember the casing for the configuration options in addition to the actual letters. InWhatWayIsCamelCaseAnyClearer than using regular lowercase words? Even if you think "ILoveCandy" is distinctivly clearer and far more well defined than "ilovecandy", do you also think so for "Never" vs "never"? I think this is an artificial requirement that puts an extra burden on users, for no reason at all.
By being case insensitive, you introduce complexity, allow this consistency to be broken and potentially reduce clarity.
In what way is complexity introduced? In the source code, it's still just one standard function call to compare the strings. Is it more complex for the users? No, it's not, it's simpler. In what way is inconsistency introduced? When upgrading packages? When users share configuration files? I can't think of any case where "consistency will be broken". Do you have a likely scenario in mind? Is it the fear of users writing "Never" as "nEvEr" in their own personal configuration files? Best regards, Alexander Rødseth Arch Linux Trusted User (xyproto on IRC, trontonic on AUR)