Re: [idn] The layers and character handling in DNS

[David C Lawrence]

> >How does gethostbyname() know for sure what the character set of its
> >argument is?
> 
> In Unix from the current locale.

This is not reliable, certainly not in the already deployed software,
which is what you are trying to accomodate by not changing the API.

How does gethostbyname() *know for sure* what the character set of its
argument is?  Answer: it doesn't, because there is no way that it can.