In <200205031752(_dot_)g43Hqcg27054(_at_)astro(_dot_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
Keith Moore <moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu> writes:
second, because the code necessary to do normalization and encoding
will be available in libraries that everyone can use - the MUA vendor
won't have to get that part right.
Do you really think Bill Gates is going to lower himself to using code
written by somebody else? No, he will cut his own and get it wrong
(probably deliberately) :-( .
and of course the normalization would have to be done even with pure UTF-8.
the ASCII encoding step is fairly simple and isn't likely to introduce
many errors.
Not necessarily for normalization (NFC or NFKC). That is a job for
keyboard drivers and other features of the operating system. It should
normally be possible for people to write applications (and MUAs are
applications) on the assumption that all the string in the system are
already normalized. At least that is my understanding of the "Early
Normalization" principle in the draft by Duerst that I referred to before.
Anyway, for sure anything that does the actual DNS lookup (where correct
normalization is essential) will likely inspect (and even correct) the
string given to it. So it is not the end of the world if the MUA does it
less than perfectly.
--
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
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