I think we should replace the term "character set" with "charset",
to reduce the conflict with what other communities use the term
"character set" for. Another possibility would be to use the term
"character encoding".
This point has already been raised. I was willing to make the change, but it
was shot down in flames by the area directors. The current terminology,
whether
it is consistent or not with usage in other venues, stays.
I'm unwilling to believe without confirmation that the AD's would
shoot down an attempt to reduce the confusion engendered by
inconsistent terminology usage in standards-track documents.
Perhaps a wholesale replacement of 'character set' by 'charset' might
not fly (if only because the replacement terminology hasn't been
agreed on), but at least some introductory remarks about the informal
notion of the phrase 'character set' in these documents might help.