Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!lethe!yunexus!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!news.cs.indiana.edu!ariel.unm.edu!nmsu!opus!mleisher From: mleisher@nmsu.edu (Mark Leisher) Newsgroups: comp.windows.x Subject: Re: Unicode; Internationalizing char sets Message-ID: Date: 27 Feb 91 08:52:24 GMT References: <1671@pai.UUCP> <1991Feb26.094326.3341@ugle.unit.no> Sender: news@NMSU.Edu Organization: Computing Research Lab Lines: 38 In-reply-to: harald.alvestrand@elab-runit.sintef.no's message of 26 Feb 91 09:43:26 GMT In article <1991Feb26.094326.3341@ugle.unit.no> harald.alvestrand@elab-runit.sintef.no writes: >UNICODE is (IMHO) another US loser. >It is (as far as I know) heartily disliked by the Japanese, Chinese, Korean >and others whom IBM et al are trying to say that they make it for. >The reason is that they try to squeeze characters that look *almost* the same >and mean *almost* the same thing into a single character position. >Kind of like writing French without the accents: Readable, but UGLY. > Yep. The argument, wrt both Unicode and ISO 10646, is over the Han unification. >The ISO guys are gathering around ISO 10646, a *32-bit* (gasp) character set >with compaction methods that make it compatible with ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1). IMHO, if a Han unification is not agreed upon, it looks like it would be easier to fit potentially different Han sets in ISO 10646. Besides, 32 bits gives a lot of working room for future additions, of whatever sort, and the compaction methods available in ISO 10646 still allow some modicum of efficiency. Another thing to keep in mind is that Japan, Korea, and PRC are now working on new standards with internationalization in mind. Once these standards are out, maybe the unification questions will be easier to resolve. Perhaps delaying the internationalization of X is a good idea. Who wants potentially major modifications staring them in the face after choosing one international character set over another. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- mleisher@nmsu.edu "I laughed. Mark Leisher I cried. Computing Research Lab I fell down. New Mexico State University It changed my life." Las Cruces, NM - Rich [Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille]