> And when somebody (from Japan, Korea, China, etc) > trying to use month numbers - he must understand, > that traditional calendar system in this countries are _different_. > What months you will try to number and from what you will start?
This is an inherent hazard of using an all-numeric system. It must be understood which calendar is in use. If I write "January" or "Tishri" or "Ramadan," the calendar in use is implicit. (But I am also language-specific, which is a disadvantage of names.) When I write 2002-03-04 to mean today (Monday), I am using ISO 8601 notation, which is specified as indicating the Gregorian (not Hebrew or Arabic/Hijri) calendar. But you are correct that other numeric systems could conceal the calendar (although the year, if present, usually gives it away; this is the year 5762 Hebrew and 1422 Arabic/Hijri). -Doug Ewell Fullerton, California
