Taking the view that "bytes are bytes" or "bytes are text in some encoding",
then bytes_to_utf8() and utf8_to_bytes() should take an encoding parameter.
Then chars_to_utf8() and utf8_to_chars() don't need an encoding parameter
because they simply convert between Unicode characters and UTF-8.
Or is there some other factor I've missed in all the confusion?
You got bored by my deluge of Encode takes and did not read the latest
versions in where chars_to_utf8() and utf8_to_chars() have no encoding
parameter? :-)
--
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# There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
# It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen