> Unicode already defines with character properties those punctuations that > terminate sentences. Why would you need to recognize sequences of two spaces > as meaning an end of sentence??? This would be wrong to select sentenced in > a preformated plain-text, even in English... > Because it has "always" been done that way, e.g. in EMACS, ever since the days before we had 50 kinds of spaces and 100 kinds of quotes.
You don't have to put two spaces after a sentence-ending period unless you like how it looks, or you want software such as EMACS and TeX to recognize the end of the sentence, which you might care about (e.g. in EMACS) if you want to use commands like "erase this sentence" or "jump forward three sentences" or "transpose sentences". I vaguely recall seeing this same discussion play out some years ago. EMACS aside, it's still an interesting question why -- in English at least -- it was customary thoughout the 20th century to put two spaces after a period when typing. I expect it must have been an aesthetic decision. What else could it have been? - Frank
