Re: Info on Internationalization

[Shenghuo ZHU <zsh@cs.rochester.edu>]

>>>>> "RC" == Richard Coleman <coleman@math.gatech.edu> writes:

RC> report is available at <http://www.imc.org/mail-i18n.html>

I just found some recommendations in the page. Can Gnus do these?

IMC> Sending UTF-8 

IMC> All mail-creating programs created or revised after January 1, 1999,
IMC> must be able to create mail using the UTF-8 charset. Another way to
IMC> say this is that any program created or revised after January 1, 1999,
IMC> that cannot create mail using the UTF-8 charset should be considered
IMC> deficient and lacking in standard internationalization
IMC> capabilities. Of course, all mail-creating programs should try to meet
IMC> this requirement as early as possible.

A deadline. I know a package for Emacs 20.x support UTF-8, which is
decoding/encoding by an external program. Does XEmacs support UTF-8?

IMC> Choosing charsets on creation 

IMC> All mail-creating programs that are controlled by humans should
IMC> allow the sender to choose the charset used to create a message.
IMC> These programs should also give advice to the user about the
IMC> different charsets, such as about the likelihood that the
IMC> recipient will be able to display a particular charset.

Gnus does not allow user choose.

IMC> Specifying languages 

IMC> All body parts that are created with a Content-type header that
IMC> include human-readable text should also include a
IMC> Content-language header. This practice makes it more likely that
IMC> programs that process messages where different languages would
IMC> process differently will process them correctly. Note that the
IMC> MIME media type does not define whether or not the content is
IMC> human-readable, and the Content-language header should be used
IMC> with all types of human-readable content, not just plain text.

Content-language, a header gnus should use.

IMC> Multi-language text 

IMC> All plain text body parts that use UTF-8 and have more than one
IMC> language should use Unicode Language Tags in addition to a
IMC> Content-language header. However, Unicode Language Tags should
IMC> only be used with plain text body parts that have more than one
IMC> language; they should not be used with body parts that have a
IMC> single language, nor should they be used with structured text
IMC> body parts such as those coded with HTML.

Although automagical additions of mime parts are cool, gnus should
allow user choose UTF-8, if support it.

IMC> Displaying UTF-8 

IMC> All mail-displaying programs created or revised after January 1,
IMC> 1999, must be able to display mail that uses the UTF-8 charset.
IMC> Another way to say this is that any program created or revised
IMC> after January 1, 1999, that cannot display mail using the UTF-8
IMC> charset should be considered deficient and lacking in standard
IMC> internationalization capabilities. Of course, all mail-displaying
IMC> programs should try to meet this requirement as early as
IMC> possible.

-- 
Shenghuo