I haven't read the whole long thread, so perhaps this has been mentioned by someone else. Python has recently decided to convert their documentation to reStructuredText [1]. It would make a lot of sense for Debian to use that de-facto standard (or some subset of it) for text typesetting in the long descriptions, rather than re-inventing the wheel.
Cheers, Morten [1] http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org