John Cowan commented. >William Overington scripsit: > >> It seems to me that deprecating these language tags might be a bad thing as >> the language tags could well have potential use in plain text files on the >> DVB-MHP (Digital Video Broadcasting - Multimedia Home Platform) platform in >> order to signal to a Java program accessing a text file the language in >> which any particular text is written. > >Of course, deprecation does not mean that the characters cannot be used, >still less (what it means in most standards bodies) that they may be >removed in future. Once in Unicode, always in Unicode.
Oh, that is interesting. So what exactly is the public consultation about deprecating the plane 14 language tags about? If the Unicode Technical Committee decided to deprecate the plane 14 language tags, what would be the effect of that decision? > >Nevertheless, on the facts described, I agree that this is an appropriate >use of Plane 14. However, I am somewhat skeptical that the facts *are* >as described: is it really the case that *plain* text files are being >used here? The DVB-MHP platform is a platform. Java programs are broadcast in a unidirectional, cyclic manner so as to produce effectively a "disc in the sky". This uses my telesoftware invention. The word telesoftware, and its etymology, are in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, volume 17. The telesoftware concept was also featured in the USA in the first issue of the magazine Personal Computing, published back in the 1970s. The Java programs are authored by content authors. The Java programs may be self-contained or may use support files. The format of those support files is up to the author of each Java program, though some formats such as png (Portable Network Graphics) have special standing. Plain text files is one of the choices which a content author may choose to use. A content author could also use a fancy text format if he or she so chooses. I am not suggesting that all the files used by the Java programs which are broadcast as telesoftware programs will be plain text, only that plain text files could be used. As the DVB-MHP system uses Java, and Java uses Unicode, then the DVB-MHP system uses Unicode, and what is contained in Unicode is thus of interest to content authors who would like to author content for the DVB-MHP platform. The DVB-MHP system is up and running on a regular basis in Finland and Germany. There is worldwide interest in the DVB-MHP system. Certainly, from my own perspective, I feel that plain text files may be very important for information content upon the DVB-MHP channel. I feel that language tags could be very useful as a feature in such use. William Overington 29 October 2002
