The name of a query or set packet should be separated from any
parameters by a @samp{:}; the parameters themselves should be
separated by @samp{,} or @samp{;}. Stubs must be careful to match the
+full packet name, and check for a separator or the end of the packet,
+in case two packet names share a common prefix. New packets should not begin
+with @samp{qC}, @samp{qP}, or @samp{qL}@footnote{The @samp{qP} and @samp{qL}
+packets predate these conventions, and have arguments without any terminator
+for the packet name; we suspect they are in widespread use in places that
+are difficult to upgrade. The @samp{qC} packet has no arguments, but some
+existing stubs (e.g.@: RedBoot) are known to not check for the end of the
+packet.}.