`illegal' vs. `invalid'

`illegal' vs. `invalid'

[Werner LEMBERG]

Doing a grep search for `illegal' in the CVS tree of emacs I find many
places where it should be `invalid' instead -- the same holds for
`legal' which should often be replaced with `valid'.  It's amazing for
me as an Austrian to see that native English speakers normally don't
make a clear distinction between those two words in daily speech.

I wonder whether such glitches shall be fixed before the next release,
and whether it should be fixed at all.


    Werner

Re: `illegal' vs. `invalid'

[Richard Stallman]

    Doing a grep search for `illegal' in the CVS tree of emacs I find many
    places where it should be `invalid' instead -- the same holds for
    `legal' which should often be replaced with `valid'.

These should all be fixed.  Would you please fix as many of them as
you have time to fix?

Re: `illegal' vs. `invalid'

[Werner LEMBERG]

>     Doing a grep search for `illegal' in the CVS tree of emacs I
>     find many places where it should be `invalid' instead -- the
>     same holds for `legal' which should often be replaced with
>     `valid'.
> 
> These should all be fixed.  Would you please fix as many of them as
> you have time to fix?

I fixed most of them.  Perhaps others can look at the remaining cases.


    Werner

Re: `illegal' vs. `invalid'

[Richard Stallman]

    I fixed most of them.  Perhaps others can look at the remaining cases.

Thank you, and I hope others will fix the rest.  It has been a GNU
convention since 1985 or so to reject use of the term "illegal" except
in connection with laws.