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From: kono@csl.sony.co.jp (Shinji Kono)
Newsgroups: news.software.b,alt.sources.d,comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: Time for 8 bit news, isn't it? - Haven't got the slightest
Message-ID: <11932@socslgw.csl.sony.co.jp>
Date: 22 Jul 90 16:36:41 GMT
References: <1092@mpirbn.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de>
Sender: kono@csl.sony.co.jp
Reply-To: kono@csl.sony.co.jp
Followup-To: news.software.b
Organization: Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
Lines: 30

As you imagine, Japanese computer scientists use Japanese in a
modified B-NEWS system. We are using 16bit for one char, but
modification is not so large in B-NEWS itself. This is because we are
using escape sequence system. For example,
	<esc> $ @       16bit Japanese Introducing
	<esc> ( B       ASCII Introducing.
For me, "$B$3$s$K$A$O(J" means "hello" in Japanese. But in U.S. 
most of you cannot read this EVEN IN PROPER JAPANESE CHARACTER TERMINAL.
This is because your BNEWS system eats <esc>. Quite simple problem.

In article <1092@mpirbn.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de>  , p576spz@mpirbn.UUCP (S.Petra Zeidler)writes 
> To what amounts would the cost of changing to 8 bit be ?
> Would it be the transition of maintenance barely affordable to not affordable ??

If you use proper Introducing Sequence ( for example again, <esc> ( H
for swedish, <esc> ( J for Japanese Latin ), clearly changes for BNEWS
are very small. And you can write Franch, Japanese and German in one
line.  But News Reader programs such as rn needs a lot of changes but
it is possible. As official communication codes in B-News, 7bits char
and ISO Introducing Sequences system is best choice I think.

BTW, What do you mean in 8bit char? If it means IBM-PC's system, I
don't like it. I think it is not difficult to write 7bit French to
8bit IBM-PC. But many Unix programs (Ex. sendmail, grep, tip, roff or
PostScript) simply cut off 8th bit. Personally I think these programs
should accept 8bit char and it is  good for us. But usually 7bit with
Introducing sequence is easy to use in Unix.
--------
Shinji Kono 
$B2OLn??<#(J Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Inc.: kono@csl.sony.co.jp