On January 14, 2003 at 10:58, Nicholas Clark wrote:
RedHat 8 defaults to setting UTF8 locales.
UTF8 locales cause perl5.8 to switch to Unicode mode, because perl assumes
that you meant to set a UTF8 locale.
I commented in a different post that, IMHO, Perl 5.8 is incorrect in
automatically going into UTF8 mode if the environment locale is
UTF8 but no 'use locale' pragma exists in the script:
<http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl-unicode/2003-01/msg00003.html>
And Jarkko submitted a problem ticket about it:
<http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl-unicode/2003-01/msg00004.html>
The main problem is that it is inconsistent behavior compared to
other locales, it contradicts the perllocale manpage, and it quietly
causes script compatibility problems that may not be easy for script
authors to track.
My personal opinion is that it was premature of RedHat to make RedHat 8.0
*default* to using UTF8 locales, given the general state of UTF8 support
in most programs running on Linux.
I agree, especially if it quietly does it. If it gives an option
during installation, with a proper warning that programs may not
support UTF8 locales, then I'm okay with it.
--ewh
--
Earl Hood, <earl(_at_)earlhood(_dot_)com>
Web: <http://www.earlhood.com/>
PGP Public Key: <http://www.earlhood.com/gpgpubkey.txt>
