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Re: Linux console internationalization
On Wednesday 2003.08.06 08:29:37 -0400, Chris Heath wrote:
> > Also, I think that console-keyboard drivers may be divided to 2 versions,
> > with kernel build option:
> >
> > the simple, with fixed 8bit codepage, unused legacy things like VT100 graphics removed
> > (for people who dont'n need i18n or work not so much in console)
> >
> > and the sophisticated, full-functional and well internationalized.
>
> Yes, I think this is the way to go. I imagine we will meet a lot of
> resistance if we try to add heavyweight Unicode stuff into the existing
> console.
>
> The heavyweight version would need a LOT of requirements gathering
> before we even begin programming. It probably should include support
> for:
>
> * lots of encodings, but use Unicode internally
Hmmm ... If I knew how to do this stuff myself (which I don't), I would
not bother with any encoding except Unicode UTF-8 (If people did not like
my patch, they wouldn't have to use it, right?). That would cut down on
the requirements and complexity a bit ... (a BIG BIT, N'est-ce pas?).
I (and many others ...) would argue that everyone needs to move to Unicode.
So when you buy that shiny new version of Linux 5 years in the future,
it's going to support Unicode very well, and it is perhaps no longer going to
support the 3-5 mutually incompatible legacy encodings of your language that you previously
had to struggle with ...
> * user-space pluggability for extra-heavyweight stuff like Japanese
> input methods or fonts
I wonder if the object oriented design of SCIM (Simple Common Input Method:
http://ns.turbolinux.com.cn/~suzhe/scim/index.html) could support CJK and
other IMs on the console?
> * bidi text (Arabic)
> * variable width fonts (CJK),
> * variable-width encodings (Unicode combining chars),
Yes, it would be nice if console worked as well as (or better than)
mlterm (http://mlterm.sourceforge.net/)
does for bidi, ligatures and combining characters for complex
layout languages
> * absolute positioning for things like line drawing...
> * ANSI / ECMA and VT100 compatibility
>
> Hmmm... I suspect I've hardly even scratched the surface and already this
> looks like it's going to be way too big for the kernel. Maybe the
> entire thing should be in user space.
>
> How important is it to have an in-kernel console?
>
> Chris
>
> --
> Linux-UTF8: i18n of Linux on all levels
> Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-utf8/
>
--
Linux-UTF8: i18n of Linux on all levels
Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-utf8/