Hello,
On Tue, May 08, 2012 at 11:29:15AM +0100, MJ Ray wrote:
> Helge Kreutzmann <debian@helgefjell.de>
> > On Mon, May 07, 2012 at 07:24:40PM +0100, MJ Ray wrote:
> > > [...] But more to the point, why do it? Just to save two
> > > characters and maybe one byte?
> >
> > No. To be typographically correct. In the beginning, there was ASCII,
> > and many typographic conventions had to be emulated (at least if you
> > did not use TeX or simmilar). Now we are able to write e-mails with
> > proper quotes and so on. And since a proper ellipsis exists and Debian
> > UTF-8 is now the default for several releases, the German team startet
> > wondering why are we still emulating?
>
> What is "proper" typography? We can't even agree on spacing around
> punctuation in English yet, so I suspect we may have different
> opinions on whether multi-character ... is better than the
> single-character one (which I don't find on my en_GB keymap just now).
> Is there a DIN Norm for German punctuation or may there be different
> opinions among that language's 1L speakers too?
I can't say anything about the English typography (if that even
exists), I only learned some rules in school.
For German I don't know if we'll follow a DIN Norm (though it exists,
cf. 5008). Basically there are some major dictionaries claiming the
public opinion and a govermental agency setting up the rules. So if in
doubt, we check them. But as usual, in the end we discuss those issues
(like we do right now) on the debian-l10n-german list and try to find
a consensus (if possible) when no clear rules exist.
Regarding input: On German keyboards and recent Debian installs
AltGr+. creates … just nicely.
> Personally, I think that curved quotes are ugly and the
> single-character ellipsis is usually too cramped (in most
> variable-width fonts and all fixed ones), so I think there may be some
> font bugs to fix before there's a "proper" one available to all, leaving
> aside unusual platforms like the kindles running debian armel.
Well, I guess we can have long discussions about the best typography,
like the best orthography, but it's not my intent to start such a
general discussion. This will be done on a case by case basis on
debian-l10n-german.
Greetings
Helge
--
Dr. Helge Kreutzmann debian@helgefjell.de
Dipl.-Phys. http://www.helgefjell.de/debian.php
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