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Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP id AA5159 ; Tue, 22 Dec 92 07:00:23 EST Xref: sserve comp.unix.bsd:9152 comp.os.linux:19835 Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.linux Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!linac!uchinews!kimbark!goer From: goer@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Richard L. Goerwitz) Subject: Re: Dumb Americans (was INTERNATIONALIZATION: JAPAN, FAR EAST) Message-ID: <1992Dec18.235809.15484@midway.uchicago.edu> Keywords: Han Kanji Katakana Hirugana ISO10646 Unicode Codepages Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System) Reply-To: goer@midway.uchicago.edu Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations References: <id.M2XV.VTA@ferranti.com> <1992Dec18.043033.14254@midway.uchicago.edu> <1992Dec18.212323.26882@netcom.com> Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 23:58:09 GMT Lines: 33 messina@netcom.com (Tony Porczyk) writes: > >>One of the big criticisms leveled at US Engineers is that they are either >>too dumb or lazy to build into their software support for non-Western >>scripts. Given that Linux originates in Europe, can we look forward to >>better support for Unicode and ISO10646? At least for "long" charac- >>ter definitions? > >Yeah, that's probably why NT supports Unicode, it's those dumb US >Engineers... Could we lay off idiotic generalizations and stick to >technical aspects of the software? It's business that dictates what's >included in the package. If it makes economic sense, it will be there. Don't be so quick to criticize. The December issue of UNIX world has a few funny stories about American gaffes in Europe, and I've personally heard many stories from Europeans myself along the same lines. I'd be willing to bet that less than 5% of US software engineers even speak a foreign language beyond the level of a few parlez vous. One of the big problems we have is precisely the attitude that you display, namely that most localizations should be done on-site. This is fine if multilingual support is built into the basic distributions, but really stupid if it isn't. As for economic sense, I have the same feeling about American's in the mid- and large-range computer business that I have about Detroit. They simply aren't as aware as they should be about what their customers really want. NT will be a welcome departure from the past, if in fact it offers true multilingual support. We'll see. -- -Richard L. Goerwitz goer%midway@uchicago.bitnet goer@midway.uchicago.edu rutgers!oddjob!ellis!goer