> The GNU Coding Standards prohibits very little. > > Even today, a different, ASCII friendly, format is fully allowed.
When I say 'allow' I mean not only as an abstract spec, but also in its implementation. You did not write "allow", this is what you wrote: > If package maintainers deem switching worthwhile, I think the > GNU Coding Standards should allow it. The GCS already allows for this, since the GCS do not explicitly prohibit it. The GCS prohibits very very little (it would be more in the realm of license, and such). Automake rejected NEWS.md until four years ago, and continues to reject other file extensions. Gnulib only gained support for cutting releases that use NEWS.md in the last month. Automake and gnulib do things that are both against, and for the GCS. The GCS is not law, a GNU project is fully capable of ignoring almost anything that the GCS asks for (there are quite many such projects). Most GNU projects do not follow the GCS, since it is not enforceable.
