Subject: Re: [iucg] [precis] draft slides for precis-framework

From: JFC Morfin <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:14:01 +0200

Apps-discuss teach internationalization needs to their members.
http://www.saint-andre.com/ietf/i18n-intro.pdf

Then PRECIS (stringprep) has also its set of slides: 
http://www.saint-andre.com/ietf/ietf81-precis-framework.pdf

These two problems are intricated because they share the same 
problem: the sustainable use of Unicode.

At 23:19 20/07/2011, Florian Zeitz wrote:
>For implementers caring about code/executable size that's probably 
>about the same.
> From a specification/standards point of view I see the merit/your point.

The problem is that Unicode is still an inadequate asolution to 
support computer network use by real people. And that majuscules are 
still not supported what makes the whole considered things 
"senseless" (I mean semantically lame) for Latin languages, in 
particular French. I did not see the main point quoted in these 
slides, which is orthotypography.

As long as one considers that the Internet is 7 bits ASCII I am 
afraid we also do not perceive the problem correctly, what means that 
we will most probably be unable to explore the right solution, 
whatever it may be. I know getting rid in part of Unicode and 
changing our reading of the Internet technology is something hardly 
conceivable, hence inacceptable. However, this is what we just did 
with IDNA2008.

Because everyone wanted to be free from Unicode versioning and users 
could not accept Internet internal mapping. We now need 
multilinguisation, i.e. the coexistence of every language on an equal 
footing and a physhing-proof universal character system. The best 
stringprep solution is no stringprep. This is RFC 3439 principle of 
simplicity. I think Unicode is not RFC 3439 conformant, hence all our 
problems. Sure we need an IETF temporary patch, but we also need a 
sustainable long term solution. If we do not consider the later, IMHO 
we will not build a good enough patch.

jfc