Re: [idn] CDNC Final Comments on Last call of IDN drafts

[Dave Crocker <dhc@dcrocker.net>]

At 09:41 AM 6/6/2002 +0800, xiaodong lee wrote:
>the architecture of IDN defined in the above three documents
>does not solve the traditional and simplified Chinese character
>variant problem: it's a half-baked solution for Chinese users.

It has never been a goal of IDN to create equivalence between different 
character sets.

Therefore, for such requirements, IDN is not as good as half-baked.  It is 
not baked at all.


>That will cause serious delegation problem in the application
>of Chinese Domain Name.

The problem of equivalence between different character sets exists more 
broadly, so that the IDN situation is merely an example of a larger 
problem.  That problem needs to be solved for the general case.

IDN chose Unicode, so that IDN was not required to invent basic technology 
for representing different character sets.

Similarly, IDN should not invent solutions for equivalence between 
different character sets.

When standards bodies for character sets define such equivalences, and when 
those equivalences gain popularity, it might be appropriate for the IDN 
effort to consider incorporating these new standards.


>2)IETF IDN WG does not solve Chinese Domain Name technical
>problems. Under the current condition, if IETF approves these
>IDN drafts without publishing any complementary documents
>simultaneously,

You do not state what is the nature of the complementary documents.

 From the remainder of your comments, it appears that you are seeking 
documents concerning DNS administration.

These are probably more appropriate for ICANN, since they pertain to 
registry/registrar matters, rather than basic DNS technology, which is the 
purview of the IETF.


>3)What's more, it stands a good chance that software vendors
>will not deploy or modify client software to support IDN too,
>because the current so-called IDN solution is a defective solution,

Predictions about the behavior of software vendors are usually problematic.

Ultimately, the market will decide whether IDN solves a significant problem 
in a useful way.  So far, there is a strong rough consensus among those who 
have participated in the IETF process, indicating that it solves an 
important problem in an acceptable fashion.

d/

----------
Dave Crocker <mailto:dave@tribalwise.com>
TribalWise, Inc. <http://www.tribalwise.com>
tel +1.408.246.8253; fax +1.408.850.1850