> Pros:
> 
> 1.  It is useful for cases when we need to send code snippets by HTML
> e-mail transport, which tends to cut off "real" whitespace.
> 2.  It can be used to highlight indentation for whatever purpose that may 
> serve.
> 
> Cons:
> 
> 1.  It prevents us from using "." for the proposed GROUP - basically,
> it prevents any syntax from using "." at the start of a line (it
> shouldn't prevent the symbol from being used within or at the end of a line)

Agree.  Obviously, if we use "." for the group, this idea dies instantly.

There's also:

2. It complicates using symbols beginning with "."; some escape mechanism like 
"(. .mysymbol)" or "\.mysymbol" must be used.  Few people use symbols beginning 
with '.'. 

3. It's different from any other indentation system, which makes it less 
familiar, and some may reject it because it's so "unusual".

> My vote is "Maybe".

That's where I am too.  If we don't use "." as the GROUP symbol, we might try 
allowing for a little while (as an experiment) and feel free to use it in 
email.  We can easily drop it later, if we make it clear this is an 
"experimental" feature.

So I'm of a mind to give it a whirl for a little while, even if it's slightly 
crazy.  It looks especially useful for discussing syntax in email, so it might 
play the role of "scaffolding" - helping us do the rest, and then we remove it 
when we're done.

All of this is moot if we use "." as the GROUP symbol; then this dies instantly.

--- David A. Wheeler

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