Re: Internet, HTML, Java & Unicode

From: Michael Everson (everson@indigo.ie)
Date: Fri May 10 1996 - 06:32:50 EDT


At 16:10 1996-05-09, Rick McGowan wrote:

>(2) The consortium itself is run entirely by volunteer effort utilizing a
>small budget provided by the generosity of a few companies.

Well, Rick, this is an interesting way of looking at an organization which
costs USD 10,000 per year to participate in, travel expenses for
conferences etc. not withstanding. It looks a lot more like investment than
philanthropy to me! Especially when "a few companies" consist of most of
the largest and most influential multinational computer corporations on the
face of the earth.

>The best way to assure that the consortium does good things is to become a
>corporate member and then volunteer enough staff efforts to make things
>happen.

Another way -- if you haven't got USD 10,000 to spare -- is to work as a
member of SC2/WG2 and to learn how to try to cooperate and compromise with
the Consortium -- and to try to get them to do the same! This is not always
easy since implementation philosophy and interchange philosophy do not
always mix easily.

>> The unicode consortium could even certify a certain level of unicode support
>> with a formal seal of approval and open the implementation of these kits to
>> anybody who wants to play, as Sun does with Java implementors
>
>This is an idea that has been brought up. Objections are that certification
>is expensive and complex to initiate, implement, maintain, and insure against
>lawsuits. No member has been willing to put in the engineering or monetary
>support to do this; and again, the UTC's expertise is concentrated in other
>areas.

There is always the Conformance Clauses in ISO/IEC 10646-1. :-)

Michael Everson, Everson Gunn Teoranta
15 Port Chaeimhghein Íochtarach; Baile Átha Cliath 2; Éire (Ireland)
Gutháin: +353 1 478-2597, +353 1 283-9396
http://www.indigo.ie/egt
27 Páirc an Fhéithlinn; Baile an Bhóthair; Co. Átha Cliath; Éire



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