Re: [idn] Document Status?

["James Seng" <jseng@pobox.org.sg>]

This is a deja vu, a discussion we have before. I tried to refrain myself
from kicking at this dead horse again but...*sigh*

There is a difference between "script" vs "language".

Language are written in scripts. Some languages use more then one script.
(e.g. Japanese). And some languages share and use the same script (e.g.
Arabic script, Han Ideograph). So language != script.

When we say "localization", we deal with "local language, local expression,
local pharses" etc.

When we say "multilingual", we deal with multi-languages.

When we say "internationalization", we design system that handle multiple
scripts.

Domain name deal with script. It has no capability to deal with language.
When I write a domain name on a napkin (aka "the napkin test"), say
"現代.com", and you give it to someone else, you have no way knowing this is a
chinese or japanese or korean without me telling you (out-of-band
communication).

So in domain name, we cant do "multilingual". We do "internationalization".
If you want "multilingual", you are not looking at domain name but something
else.

These definition is a bit different from the layman defintion of
"international" and "local" in Jefsey's email. But we engineers have to be
more precies.

-James Seng

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam M. Costello" <idn.amc+0@nicemice.net.RemoveThisWord>
To: "IETF idn working group" <idn@ops.ietf.org>
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2002 9:40 AM
Subject: Re: [idn] Document Status?


> "vinton g. cerf" <vinton.g.cerf@wcom.com> wrote:
>
> > It strikes me that the IDNA documents are more aimed at
> > localization/multilingualization than internationalization
>
> "JFC (Jefsey) Morfin" <jefsey@jefsey.com> wrote:
>
> > This is why we should correct the wording now, while we still can do
> > it.
>
> > IMHO multilingual Internet names support is what we talk about.
>
> I personally wouldn't mind seeing IDN renamed to MDN, but I suppose it's
> the area directors that would need to make that decision.
>
> What we really want is a word that means multiple scripts,
> rather than multiple languages, but I don't know of such a word.
>
> AMC
>
>