Re: about volatile.d.o/n

[paddy <paddy@panici.net>]

On Tue, Oct 12, 2004 at 03:51:43PM -0700, Thomas Bushnell BSG wrote:
> Sven Mueller <sm@leogic.com> writes:
> 
> > Any pre-existing piece of software (let's call it X) which interfaces
> > with A must stay fully functional. New features may be added to A and
> > might not be available via the original interface, but any feature
> > previously available must still work in the same way (less bugs being
> > fixed). This also means that spelling mistakes in the C locale must be
> > preserved (they may get fixed in other locales though, including
> > en_US) as well as any (possibly even weird) output formatting.
> > 
> > That last sentence also implies that any script using the commandline
> > interface of A must reset LC_ALL and LANG to "C" or unset
> > it. Otherwise the output format and wording might change from one
> > revision to the other. This is good practise anyway, since you
> > couldn't rely on a specific output formatting or wording without
> > specifically setting a well-known locale.
> 
> No.  It must behave identically, regardless of locale.  Spelling fixes
> in the interface *cannot* be part of what the new version needs in
> order to remain useful.  This is just the kind of dogde that has been
> worrying me about these proposals.
> 
> Thomas

I can see your point of view here.  Ironically, I've been assuming,
purely on names, that you are more likely to be living in an english
speaking country (as am I), whilst Sven might be less likely.

Do admins in non-english speaking countries use the C locale in this
way?  I like the C locale, it doesn't screw with the colation of my ls :)

Clearly there is not absolute consensus on this convention.  What sort
of support does it enjoy?  What (if any) equivalent policies already
exist in debian?

While there may be disagreement on the specifics, the value of proposals
for exposing those disagreements and giving folk a chance to work things
out seems good.  I seem to recall that you originally encouraged proposals,
and I would like to thank you for that.

Regards,
Paddy
-- 
Perl 6 will give you the big knob. -- Larry Wall