The HTTP spec is loose in its definitions of delete and resource. We might end up fighting about which platform is more important, and actual practice might not be good semantic basis anyhow. Intuitively, delete means that stuff is gone. That is, it's not accessible any more. Separate intuitiveness from the principle of least harm.
Least harm is more important.
Make it optional whether to destroy state or not. When an Office 2000 client issues delete, we don't want the server to fail. The issue he wanted to raise is not about whether the server has to destroy the state or not, but about whether only one binding is removed while others remain. At a minimum, it just removes one binding, but it may do anything up to destroying the state. Delete just means I don't want to see it in my workspace any more.