Re: Regional Indicator Symbols

From: Philippe Verdy <verdy_p_at_wanadoo.fr>
Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2012 14:46:57 +0200

2012/6/3 Doug Ewell <doug_at_ewellic.org>:
> Read http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3727.pdf . This mechanism is
> part of Unicode, and adding another one such as Philippe's to accomplish
> basically the same thing would be a form of duplicate encoding.

First I have NEVER advocated using flags for identifying languages.
This is a common practie but something I strongly disapprove.

Next This is not "duplicate encoding". Given that there's no such
first encoding of national flags as characters. Yes this may mean that
some people will try to use those flags as language indicators. But
this will remain wrong. My intent is just to allow encoding flags for
what they are : flags. Nothing else, not even with their intended
territory coverage (even if we can admit their semantics according to
ISO 3166 territorial coverages).

MY initent is JUST to solve both the political and legal/copyright
issues, but as well offer a clear path for interoperability at the
plain text level, without requiring embeddded images (not stable is
using URLs, legally restricted in terms of copright and political
issues.

The need for an interoperable solution is demonstrated in extrmeely
frequent cases (so many that it is impossible to list an exhautive
list of them). The issue of interoperability occurs very frequently.
The current basic solutions (implemented in standards) are completely
unable to solve the problem (embedded URLS or images are definitely
not portable as there's no way to identify them with flags for any
specific country, beven that both solutions are not used according so
any standard and do not make any difference with any random images or
even with advertizing inserts, that only a human can solve).

Also I certainly don't want to let the UTC introduce directly flags
for any specific regions. This would be another nightmare (just like
the current "ideographic" nightmare that was adopted early, just
because emergency needs, but without any research and development made
to help close this issue for the long term)

And if you want my opinion about the alternate proposal for "regional
indocators" I don't support them for exactly the same reason as
language indicators: their application scope also in an undetermined
and arbitrary length of texts.. Flags are definitely not duplicates of
regional indicators, their scope is limited to the occurence of the
flag itself, wihout any consequence on how to interpret the rest of
the text. My proposal is just "symbols", not "indicators" that I
strongly do not approve.
Received on Mon Jun 04 2012 - 07:51:42 CDT

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