On 9/14/2013 6:24 AM, Michael Everson wrote:
On 14 Sep 2013, at 14:16, Stephan Stiller <stephan.stil...@gmail.com> wrote:
Books never used it. The tradition in typing was developed to assist
typesetters to navigate the typewritten text they were setting. The typesetters
never put two spaces after a full stop.
I see. I think you were mentally mixing this up with double inter-line spacing.
No, I wasn't.
Double inter-line spacing always looks stupid and decreases the legibility of a
text. It can't be justified, yet somehow there is a tradition in the US to
require it for writing assignments in a university context.
It facilitates comment by those who are reviewing the text.
Some people get this distinction between manuscript (draft) and publication.
As for editing software, instead of being implemented as a text format,
spacing should have been done as a view, albeit a printable one. That
way, the reviewer (if using hardcopy) could have the wide line spacing
without it becoming by force an essential characteristic of the document
itself.
But reviewing hardcopy is on its way out, so even this issue will
disappear...
A./
