I thought Pierre meant that commas are not *always* distinctive (like in clusters).As to the ,=' rule, I think it's a mistake. Apostrophes are always distinctive, whereas commas are not. {malauis} = {malau,is} <> {malau'is}.
I've prooved commas must be distinctive. ,=' is a more sane rule than the commas-don't-matter rule; it takes precedence.
Best wishes, Lionel