On Thu, May 02, 2013 at 12:53:19PM -0400, erik quanstrom wrote:
>
> i see we're at an impass. since i don't agree that utf-8 is a user
> interface thing. it's more entrenched than that.
>
> why don't you code something up?
Because I have started sketching (this was for kerTeX/RISK) "basys" i.e.
basic system tools, but I'm trying to decide whether I start from mainly
BSD tools (ash, libregex, sed, ed and the small set of utilities
used by RISK or by kerTeX package framework), or from Plan9 ones
(rc has some features that are worth them). But I want "basys" to
be a "C language" system---the system speaks Cee, and that's all;
a not integer number is given with a '.' and not a ',' for Frenchs
and so on (this is an example of POSIX hell: the *printf() and
*scanf() take the localization to decide how to interpret or render
numbers, and even if they are used to read files, not interacting
with the user, whatever user environment value spoils the thing if you
have not protected against in the code...), dealing with octets
strings (for user language, let them be UTF-8; but system strictly
doesn't care: this is octets strings) and for libregex(p) the rune
thing does not appeal to me (correction: the only rune thing, even
if for a definition of "character" this does make sense).
I might as well end up with a modified sh or rc that deals with C
strings (with a L---for "hell"?---for UTF-8, nothing for octets, W for
wydes, T for tetras and O for octas and even a modifier for endianess).
But contrary to what is "state of the art", I take long to study and
make things clear (to myself... YMMV), and after that I urge on
implementing in the direction I have chosen (it may take "calendar"
time; but this is simply because of limited slots of time; during
these slots I don't wonder about what has to be done: it is already
decided...). Till I have made the choice...
I have already decided that I will implement a bar(1) that only packs
the data with a "volume" listing in text whatever attributes in a form
attribute=value are linked to the data (this is, in some sens, what RISK
already does with rkinstall(1), except that it uses tar(1) to pack data).
That is bar(1) will be a pure C89 program without any system dependent
part (this will allow to do whatever with the data, for example changing
names to fit local conventions---the man hierarchy; compressing man
pages; caching the rendering; adding extensions etc.).
--
Thierry Laronde <tlaronde +AT+ polynum +dot+ com>
http://www.kergis.com/
Key fingerprint = 0FF7 E906 FBAF FE95 FD89 250D 52B1 AE95 6006 F40C
