"John.Cowan" <xxxxxx@reutershealth.com> writes:

> Thomas Bushnell scripsit:
>
>> If string<? is used only for cases where the exact order is
>> irrelevant, then there is no advantage in standardizing the order at
>> all.
>
> There is; if you use string<? to create a search tree, and then serialize
> it and pass it to some other system, it should still be a search tree.
> That can be assured by ensuring that string<? provides a universally
> consistent collation.

Yes, but is this much important?

Cannot the few cases where people want this specific thing simply
define an order themselves on the strings they share support for?