--- Doug Ewell <dewell@...> wrote:

> Peter T. Daniels <grammatim at worldnet dot att dot
> net> wrote:
>
> >> Probably most of the list is aware of these,
> >> certainly those whose interest is computer-
> >> related (as opposed to, say, Peter Daniels).
> >
> > I really don't see why a list intended for the
> > discussion of writing systems should have mutated
> > into a list devoted to discussion of computer
> > problems.
>
> I don't think mentioning locales counts as
> discussing a computer problem. They have to do with
> software localization, which can certainly involve
> writing systems. Having a computer-related interest
> in writing systems does not mean one is not
> interested in writing systems.
>
> When it gets down to arguing over which browser is
> better, or why certain characters don't show up with
> this font and that version of Uniscribe, or whether
> it is better to send numeric HTML entities or
> straight UTF-8 in e-mail, then I agree we have
> crossed the line into discussing computer problems.
>
> -Doug Ewell
> Fullerton, California
> http://users.adelphia.net/~dewell/

Actually I would disagree on the point of Uniscribe
(and other rendering systems) since that is one of the
most important yet most poorly understood components
responsible for using most writing systems on
computers. Which browser is better is clearly
off-topic
but whether and why some browsers and OSes can or
cannot handle a particular writing system would be on-
topic. How to send UTF-8 email would be off topic if
it weren't for the fact that this forum relies on
email. Questions relating to why this or that won't
work in this forum ought to be on-topic whereas
talking
about email generally would be off-topic.

Here's an example on-topic computer-related question:

What on earth is the correct way to encode Aung San
Suu
Kyi's name in Unicode Burmese as written on
http://www.dassk.com/

And where can I read the *correct* ways to encode
exotic scripts in Unicode? Khmer, Burmese, Tibetan,
Sinhala have always eluded me.

Andrew Dunbar.


=====
http://en.wiktionary.org -- http://linguaphile.sf.net/cgi-bin/translator.pl





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