On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 4:38 PM, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:
I see no reason for these features to be connected to a style. They
can easily be separate; keeping them separate will make it easier for
users to specify arbitrary combinations of them.
Is that really the goal?
When I started programming 45 years ago I wrote in the only language available for system programming: assembler. I hand laid out every looping construct. I hand allocated every register. I was entirely on my own to identify and enforce all necessary conventions. Using a high level language deprives me of some of the fine control I once had. In exchange though I can contemplate and even complete radically larger designs. I am extremely grateful for a limited vocabulary of loops, for entirely automatic register allocation and for languages that enforce strong typing.
I am unmoved by the prospect of being able to specify entirely arbitrary combinations of all formatting elements at any and every point in my documents.