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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: UTF-8 filenames in KDE 3
From:       Thomas Zander <zander () planescape ! com>
Date:       2002-02-24 15:56:55
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On Sat, Feb 23, 2002 at 02:18:58AM +0200, Ilya Konstantinov wrote:
> On Sat, 2002-02-23 at 00:21, Waldo Bastian wrote:
> > I don't think we should _DEFAULT_ to using UTF-8 for filenames though because 
> > it breaks with existing practises and users need to convert their filenames 
> > first before they will be able to properly use UTF-8. I don't think that we 
> > should force such things on our users. 
> 
> Points in favor of switch:
..
> 4. We should provide the user with the option to remain with locale
> filenames. It would be enough for a user to click 'Cancel' once the
> first-activation wizard appears and prompts him to convert filenames, in
> order to switch this option on.
Don't make this mistake; its a machine option. A bit like how QT3 does not 
do encodings anymore and you can't make one application use encodings again.
Its a whole machine on/off switch.

> 5. When _will_ the change to UTF-8 happen? How will KDE 3.1 or KDE 3.2
> be a better opportunity than KDE 3.0?
The switch will be done when all relavant software is ready, lets make ours
ready ASAP.

> Points against switch:
> 1. We shouldn't enforce anything on our users. Programmers are to adapt
> to the users needs.
Hmm, another famous one; "users often don't know what they want until they 
are forced to use it, and come to love it"

> > What I would like to see is a common standard for saying "the file system uses 
> > utf8 for filenames" that is compatible with existing practises. 
> 
> I don't see ext2 or ext3 defining anything else than "our filenames are
> sequences of octets". My idea was of us, the desktop people, making a
> setting a convention, which will never happen if we'll leave it to the
> kernel guys.

Agreed; plus KDE does not only run on Linux.

Anything wrong with using the (new) option PROPER_FILENAMES when set and 
screaming out loud that this is wonderful and unix is almost ready for 
utf-8? Only that others should fix their software to do the same :)

-- 
Thomas Zander                                            zander@earthling.net
The only thing worse than failure is the fear of trying something new

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