It would have been kind to give the source, so that this was clear to people.

Question

The following sentence is some of the message I got from a native speaker, but I can't understand well the following sentence.
1) "It would have been kind to give the source, so that this was clear to people."

Do the above sentence means "If you had given the source it would have been kind and this would have been clear to people."?
a. If so, What role does 'it' play here?
b. Should ",so that this was clear to people" have been this? : ",so that this could be clear to people" with 'so that' meaning cause and effect.

Johan Bester · Accepted Answer

You understood the question and it means what you say.

The it is difficult to explain. Some language expert must explain this, but I think it is the same kind of it as in "It is nice of you to say this."

Would is used to express a polite request, and should should not be used here.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Bester, for your answer

I have written the balderdash; please forget my question 'b'
I will rewrite the question 'b'.

"It would have been kind to give the source, so that this was clear to people."

b. Do you think 'was' is the tense simplification for 'would be' and that I can rephrase the above sentence as follows?
: "If you had given the source it would have been kind and this would be clear to people."

It would have been kind to give the source, so that this was clear to people.

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