[RFC] Feature Proposal - Replace `*:signed` suffix key with `is_signed:*` prefix key

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I do not think it makes much sense to change the status quo:

  • I do not see clear advantages that the new syntax would have over old one (i.e. what things were very hard/impossible with old syntax, but become very easy/possible with the new one)? IMHO, if some existing tagging is to be deprecated, there should be HUGE benefits for that, which I don’t see
  • current format actually makes more sense to me, because standalone_key:additional_attribute=* format actually makes all standalone_key related attributes be grouped together. Note that all other keys mentioned in the proposal using prefix format (note, check_date, source, fixme) make sense (and have massively been used) as standalone_key=*. On the other hand having just signed=yes/no key would be bad candidate for such standalone_key – it would make little sense on its own, as it would be horribly ambiguous and carry little (if any) information without more detailed specification. Thus, :signed seems to better be used as a suffix.
  • making the change at this point in time will not make people lives easier (and will instead make them harder for anybody using or planing to use those tags - even while acknowledging it is admirable you’d fix the major player yourself). I.e. if current status is preserved no work needs to be done (everybody that needs already handles the special cases). If the format was changed, it does not mean that the current hacks would go away, it only means that the new method handling would have to be added in addition to current hacks - ObXKCD. Hence, it would (needlessly) require more work.
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