Michael Everson wrote as follows. >At 08:44 -0700 2003-06-25, Doug Ewell wrote: > >>If it's true that either the UTC or WG2 has formally approved the character, for a future version of Unicode or a future amendment to 10646, then I don't see any reason why font makers can't PRODUCE a font with a glyph for the proposed character at the proposed code point.
>>They just can't DISTRIBUTE the font until the appropriate standard is released. >That's correct. Well, certainly authority would be needed, yet I am suggesting that where a few characters added into an established block are accepted, which is what is claimed for these characters, there should be a faster route than having to wait for bulk release in Unicode 4.1. If these characters have been accepted, why not formally warrant their use now by having Unicode 4.001 and then having Unicode 4.002 when a few more are accepted? These minor additions to the Standard could be produced as characters are accepted and publicised in the Unicode Consortium's webspace. If the characters have not been accepted then they cannot be considered ready to be used, yet if they have been accepted, what is the problem in releasing them so that people who want to get on with using them can do so? Some fontmakers can react to new releases more quickly than can some other fontmakers, so why should progress be slowed down for the benefit of those who cannot add new glyphs into fonts quickly? For example, symbols for audio description, subtitles and signing are needed for broadcasting. Will that need to have years of waiting and using the Private Use Area when it could be a fairly swift process and the characters could be implemented into read-only memories in interactive television sets that much sooner? Why is it that it is regarded by the Unicode Consortium as reasonable that it takes years to get a character through the committees and into use? Surely where a few characters are needed the Unicode Consortium and ISO need to take a twenty-first century attitude to getting the job done for people's needs rather than having the sort of delays which might have been acceptable in days gone by. The idea of having to use the Private Use Area for a period after the characters have been accepted is just a nonsense. William Overington 26 June 2003
