oneworld4u - thank you for (hopefully) putting that issue to bed.
You will find that many discussions on FT seem to go round in circles. The alliance sites (which combine posters from airline forums with their own idionsyncracies) are probably even worse!
The other key question for many posters on this thread, which I believe remains unanswered (and relates to the 16-segment limit) is:
Is it possible to use City codes on oneworld fares (eg LON rather than LHR/LGW/LCY, NYC rather than JFK/LGA/EWR)?
and thus save burning short land segments where OW airlines connect into different airports.