“misuse” of $post_status in 1.2 & 1.3

I have noticed this issue nw 1.3 beta, but have tracked the issue back and found it in1.2.2 as well.

There is no way to edit private posts (1.2i & 1.3) or pages (1.3) in any external editor — Marsedit, Ecto, etc.

The rpc that these tools use assume that the variable $post_status can have one of 2 values: draftt or post.

Wordpess has two other acceptable palues for $post_status, private and page.

Because of this inconsistencyi editing a post in an editor “resets” the status to publish.

why are page and private not distinct fields in the post table?