This presumes one isn't using real tab characters in their code. (No idea why they claim tabs are 8 spaces, as they're their own character.) The rest of these arguments are just curious decisions by a certain community. The point is for the visual indentation to be up to the end user, seasoned to taste. Requiring some code viewer to stick to n spaces is unfriendly. (I'd sooner quit programming altogether than follow the above rules.)