John Klensin noted:
While it doesn't change the conclusion, I've actually see many
uses of ydm in the wild. I haven't taken the time to try to
find out, but I've assumed that was the reason why the current
version of ISO 8601 moved to "one delimiter and it is hyphen"
from the permissiveness about delimiter choices in its
predecessors.
Normally I hesitate before making sweeping statements like that :-). In this
case, I omitted, for the sake of brevity, noting that there are many MANY
formats in use, especially in specialized fields such as accounting, and that,
like most anything involving culture or language, one can find nearly any
variation, no matter how "strange" or "foreign" it seems to outsiders, that is
actually in customary use *somewhere*.
There is also a difference between "regularized" usage and formats derived by
well-meaning people based on their own experience (i.e. a European might very
well think first of ydm, being used to seeing the day preceding the month).
However, I'm unaware of any locale where 'ydm' is a *preferred* format, any
casual or specialized usage notwithstanding. Probably someone will go find one,
just to prove my first paragraph. In I18N, we usually say that the answer to
any question begins with the phrase "well, it depends..."
Finally, if one is reading standards, it behooves one to understand the customs
and language adopted there. Date formats such as this are one such example,
just as certain English words have special meaning in a standards context. The
use of a well-known, unambiguous format, such as ISO 8601-derived dates, is
sensible as such a standard as it is generally inoffensive, language/culture
neutral, and recognizable.
Addison
Addison Phillips
Chair -- W3C Internationalization WG
Internationalization is not a feature.
It is an architecture.
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