[GRASS-user] d.colorlist

[Glynn Clements]

Rich Shepard wrote:

> > one is just an alias to the other in colors.h.
> >
> > an alias is easier that rewiring half the english speaking planet's brains
> > or trying to convince the other half that you are somehow right and they
> > are somehow wrong. For the most part though, GRASS originated in the US
> > and so the convention is to follow US spellings.

However, the US doesn't appear to be 100% committed to "gray" (e.g. 
Greyhound).

I find it quite common to see "grey" and "gray" offered as aliases in
software which otherwise uses US spellings exclusively (e.g. X11's
named colours consistently offer both).

>    Now I'm trying to remember which tool I use demands that references to
> 'color' be spelled 'colour' because it originated in England (or by coders
> from there.)

I wouldn't automatically assume England (or the UK, or the British
Isles); the UK spellings are quite common elsewhere in the
commonwealth, and also amongst Europeans who have English as a second
language (which includes just about anyone who programs computers).

OTOH, it's common for US spellings to be used for computing, even
amongst people who use the UK spellings natively. One notable
exception is wxWidgets, which uses "colour" throughout the API and
documentation.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>