The french did have weapon foils (as opposed to training foils) with sharpened points specifically for drawing blood. because they had no edge, they were often legal in towns where blades were forbidden.
Most rapiers (according to the period manuals and modern historians) were not sharpened except for the last 6-12 inches, of blades that could reach 60... (I fence Rapier.) and that was not generally "Knife-sharp", although it was better than butterknife. The sharpening was to (1) ease thrusting (2) allow for cuts of opportunity by slashing faces and/or wrists
Of the swords in the CT rules, Only the foil is a sharp tip. The cutlass historically was not sharpened to a sharp edge in the working edge to prevent cutting lines, although many had a forte sharpening so that intentional line cuts could be made.
Sabres were not typically terribly sharp either. They relied mostly on percussive technique, not edge sharpness. (Again manuals of the period when they were popular.) Often, it was the false edge that was sharp, specifically to allow the horseman to retrieve it.
Schlagers (19th and early 20th century) were another odd dueling blade: No edges and no thrusting tip; tip is blunt, and right angled; corners used to cut faces at weapon reach.
Falchions ranged widely; they were hard to parry, and thus could maintain an edge; many show little effort at honing, but show extensive nice repairs.
Japanese and Chinese blades often were quite sharp, yes. But they relied upon that sharpness, and most of the armors they faces were non-rigid. Before the edge tempering techniques (and blade forging techniques), however, both cultuers used boradswords.
Polynesian and Meso- and South-American swords were wood, with either flint, sharktooth, or obsidian set into a groove. These were very sharp. Fragile, too.
So, yes, a lot of swords were sharp... but very few in the overall picture of the swords used in Traveller materials are of types that would be sharp. The tips, almost certain could be.
But a sharp blade against a hard armor actually loses more energy in the flaking and/or chipping.
as a class, swords are about concentrating force upon a strong and narrow edge.
Certain exceptional types are designed with slashing in mind, and have sharp edges.
Oh, and a recent show on discovery or science chanel (forget which) showed that, yes, indeed, a sharp knife held still is no better at penetrating skin than a dull one... until a draw is made. Certain SCA demos have proven similar.
Now, as to the vacc suit: If I swing a dull broadsword at you, I'm likely to break a bone or two, and cause some muscle damage... and leave you nicely contained. Hopefully you bleed out inside the suit, and thus I've got no mess to clean up when I space you during jump.
Most modern fabrics of the type are in fact cut resistant; you'd need 4-10 pounds of blade-on force, and similar or more in draw/push force, in order to get a cut at all... and if the blade isn't serrated, it's more.
By sharp edge, the reference actually is to one sharp enough to grab hairs and/or shave with.
