Sincerely,
Maksym Kozub
———————————————–

(For the record, I did not even use that word in my blog, not in any URLs etc., so I was not directly affected by this change in their software. Voting against this tacit implementation of capitalization has been a matter of principle for me.)

Of course there exists a valid argument — one spelling is wrong, one spelling is right. It’s black and white. Sorry folks.

No. That absolutely is not a “valid argument” for editorial modification of end-user content without the user’s knowledge or consent. If it were, then every spell-checker in existence would implement auto-correction exactly the way this filter works: silently, without notifying the user or asking for his permission. If it were, “WordPress” would not be the only mis-spelled (or mis-capitalized) word to be corrected.

At this point, I am absolutely flabbergasted that such ardent defenders of free software principles can take such a stance.

Of course there exists a valid argument — one spelling is wrong, one spelling is right. It’s black and white. Sorry folks. And no, it’s not apples and oranges (as suggested in the body of the post) for as long that one of the more prominent arguments out there is how intent could possibly be determined.

The only correct spelling is the spelling as intended by the author. If I’m giving an example of the incorrect spelling of a word, then the correct spelling is, in fact, the misspelled version of the word. If I’m displaying some sample code, where the function does not use the CamelCase version of WP, then the correct spelling is the spelling used for the function, as I’m writing about the function and not about WP.

Put away your ego, apply your own argument in various different situations and everything should become very clear. Instead of digging in and alienating people over something that fixes NOTHING and breaks the community, set your ego aside, pull your head out of your ass and fix the problem.

Nacin, I’ve dealt with you in the past and I think you’re a very pleasant, intelligent, and talented person. This just doesn’t seem like you. I hold you and your skills in very high regard, but I’m no longer very confident in your decision making ability. I’m honestly feeling quite sad. I hope your ego and stubbornness haven’t eclipsed your intelligence.

The fact that there is a proper spelling (based on the copyrighted name) does not dictate how someone writing content displays the word. the spell check on my HTC Incredible recommends the correct spelling of words as I type, but I am free to use one that is ‘incorrect’ if I damn well please. You as a core developer have no right in determining what and how I choose to create content. None. Period. That, sir, is black and white.

And for what it’s worth, I haven’t seen any community members outside of the core dev’s actually PRAISE this new addition.

There simply exists no valid argument for assuming that a user intends to capitalize a letter when the user himself fails to do so.

Of course there exists a valid argument — one spelling is wrong, one spelling is right. It’s black and white. Sorry folks. And no, it’s not apples and oranges (as suggested in the body of the post) for as long that one of the more prominent arguments out there is how intent could possibly be determined.

Andrew Nacin has also expended an amazing amount of time arguing his point that “it’s the correct spelling” — and I think we all understand his argument.

Maybe an hour total, given a few blog comments, a few mailing list emails, a few Trac comments, and a few Twitter messages. I would love to have the hour back, but at the same time, I enjoy engaging the community, especially on the Argument of the Week.

While Gil has disagreed with me on issues in the past, we’re now in the same “against us” camp as far as Matt (or Nacin at least) is concerned.

That has been my point to Chip Bennett for quite some time as well. While people criticize me for the way I present my arguments, they’re treated the same way as Chip or Gil’s well reasoned and carefully worded discussions.

Neither matter to the core team anymore (at least from what I can tell) so why avoid inflammatory headlines that get people’s attention? Why not blog publicly about the next exploit that’s found?

The continuing campaign of ideological purity is driving more people out of the community and only inspiring more behavior that seems to drive them nuts.

For the record, wordpress…

“wordpress”?

also “corrected” smart quotes, ellipses, and en-dashes for you. It didn’t tell you about those either, nor did it offer you the ability to prevent them without removing a filter. It simply recognized your intent and offered the change transparently.

Replacing a normal quote mark with a “curly” quote mark is completely cosmetic. Intent is not changed, since the user intended to use a quote mark, and WordPress outputted a quote mark. Likewise for ellipses and em-dashes.

There simply exists no valid argument for assuming that a user intends to capitalize a letter when the user himself fails to do so.

I should know: Word, my BlackBerry, and any number of other applications and devices attempt (incorrectly) to “correct” my capitalization in various circumstances. And in all such cases:

1) I am able to undo the attempted correction
2) A user-configurable option exists to prevent the attempted auto-correction.

Neither point is true for the capital_P_dangit() filter.

1) Create the filter as-is, but bundle it as a (disabled-by-default) plugin with the standard WordPress download package.

2) Add it as a spell-check rule.

As it is, however, content, upon display, is filtered, without either the knowledge or consent of the owner of that content. The oft-repeated “iPhone argument” only serves to demonstrate how poorly this capital_P_dangit filter was implemented.

Re: the iPhone — You can tell it not to change your spelling. Do it a few times and it learns that it should stop trying.