Should we have an official spelling variant? i.e. should we declare one form of spelling "incorrect" and subject to editing?
I'm in favour of not enforcing a standard for text, but we will definitely need one for tagging.
Let's write down suggestions, and have them voted on.
I suggest
accepting all spelling standards for text
enforcing Neue Rechtschreibung (or whatever is most current right now) for text when the word in question is important in the context of the contribution (like when looking for a translation, as suggested by @poke in the comments).
enforcing Neue Rechtschreibung for tags. Tags are always in Standard German
not enforcing Neue Rechtschreibung at all where the context is explicitly Swiss German or Austrian German, who have different spelling rules.
I'd suggest:
Try to indicate when you deviate from it
Must use neue Rechtschreibung or clearly indicate deviation when there is relevance to the question
Must use neue Rechtschreibung in tags
May edit posts to "upgrade" them to neue Rechtschreibung
I would suggest to even using neue Rechtschreibung when answering posts about dialects or Swiss or Austrian German (except for the examples, obviously), similar to an english encyclopedia not using German when describing German words.
Swiss orthography.
(This is not a very serious suggestion, but less frivolous than it might seem. First of all, it is important to notice that there are other orthographies beside the two mentioned ones and secondly, when I spent time in a US school, the pupils learned Swiss orthography so they would not have to fuss with ß.)
Compare: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9F#In_der_Schweiz_und_in_Liechtenstein
ß. I don't know how acceptable that is among linguists and teachers though - we'll see how the voting turns out
I definitely prefer the "old" spelling rules, and I do so for politicial reasons: The language we use is not property of politicians, nor of people working in ministries. Those however were those who tried to impose the "new" rules onto society. Okay, I accept that someone has to decide what exactly is taught in schools, and what rules civil servants should apply when producing texts, but these decisions cannot be binding in any way for other parts of the society, including of course private individuals, private businesses and, especially, people or organisations who professionally publish things, e.g. journalists and newspapers.
The problem is, people in Germany tend to be overly attracted by rules and by what some people up in the hierarchy tell them to do, so many people seem to believe that the "new" spelling rules are something quite similar to law. Which they are not, and cannot be.
In everyday practice I have adopted the use of "ss" and "ß" from the "new" rules because this part of the "new" rules indeed simplifies things (ss after a short vowel, ß after a long vowel including diphthonge). For almost everything else, however, I stick to the "old" rules. Particularly so regarding Getrenntschreibung/Zusammenschreibung were the "new" rules would lead to misleading meaning and bereave us of nuanced expression.
