Re: [idn] proposals and deadlines

["Eric A. Hall" <ehall@ehsco.com>]

> This just moves my argument up a layer.  Now the application has a
> choice between trying the new API and falling back to ACE, or just
> always using ACE with the old API.  The latter is simpler and works
> just as well (and is more portable).

You avoid transliteration when using UTF8. What you see is what you get,
rather than a codified representation of it. For email messages, text
files, and just about every other form of user-manipulatable storage, this
is extremely important, and will become moreso over time.

Users don't want to write "ask jane@aq--gobbledygook for info". Users
don't want to see it in netstat output. Etc.

> If you want to entice me to use the new resolver API, you're going to
> have to offer more incentive. Having the resolver perform the ACE
> conversions for me would do it.

You are certainly free to try embedding ACE into your data, displaying it
properly in all situations, managing clipboard representations of it (did
they want the visual representation or the mailto link?), educating users
on its syntax, and so forth. Not having to do any of that should be
compelling enough.

-- 
Eric A. Hall                                        http://www.ehsco.com/
Internet Core Protocols          http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/