spaces and newlines before list markers (was: evolving the spec)

[Yuri Takhteyev]

>  >1. Item one

>  >2. Item two

>  > . Item three

>  > . Item four

>  > . Item five

>

>

>    But that's not very readable, is it?


Note the word "optional" in the paragraph preceding this example.  I
think markdown's ideal of allowing the source to be readable should be
understood as making possible and easy for the author to write
markdown source that is readable.  I don't see why it would make sense
to _require_ them to make it readable.  Sometimes I care that my
source is easy to read, and in cases like that I can number all of my
list items.  In other cases I am the only person to sees the source,
and numbering the items is just a waste of time.  And tell me that the
example above is more confusing then:

1. Item one
2. Item two
5. Item five
4. Item four
3. Item five


>    When I look at a list in the source document, I'd expect to see

>    a list.    I don't know of very many (if any) cases where the


Yes, I expect to see a list, but I also expect the numbers to be in
order.  A list without numbers is better in my opinion than a list
with numbers out of order.  And fixing the numbers after reordering
the list is a pain.

- yuri

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