Originally Posted by halfspeed

No. The wives' tale is that straight gauge spokes build a stronger wheel because they have more material. Jobst Brandt did the FEA work to show how bicycle wheel systems actually work thirty years ago. I'll again refer you to his book if you care to delve in to it.

This doesn't mean you can't build perfectly acceptable wheels with straight gauge spokes. As you noted, wheels are systems. As long as you understand the tradeoffs in using less elastic spokes and overbuild elsewhere to compensate, the wheel will be fine. In the context of this discussion, I responded to another user's suggestion of a wheel with straight gauge spokes on a low-profile, light-weight rim for a heavy rider. I did not consider that a set of tradeoffs that would make me comfortable. YMMV.