Re: [PATCH] Documentation/i18n.txt: clarify character encoding support

Karsten Blees [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

I do not think the removal of the text makes much sense here unless
you add the equivalent to the new text below.

quoted

  - The contents of the blob objects are uninterpreted sequences
    of bytes.  There is no encoding translation at the core
    level.
 
- - The commit log messages are uninterpreted sequences of non-NUL
-   bytes.
+ - Pathnames are encoded in UTF-8 normalization form C. This

That is true only on some systems like OSX (with HFS+) and Windows,
no?  BSDs in general and Linux do not do any such mangling IIRC.

Modern Unices don't need any such mangling because UTF-8 NFC should
be the default system encoding. I'm not sure for BSDs, but it has
been the default on all major Linux distros for more than 10 years.

So?  All major distros do not have to worry (and do not even need to
know).  As I said,...

quoted

I
am OK with mangling described as a notable oddball to warn users,
though; i.e. not as a norm as your new text suggests but as an
exception.

... I am OK to describe "pathnames are mangled into UTF-8 NFC on
certain filesystems" as a warning.  I am OK if we encourage the use
of UTF-8, especially if a project wants to be forward looking
(i.e. it may currently be a monoculture but may become cross
platform in the future).  I just do not want to see us saying "you
*must* encode your path in UTF-8 NFC".

ISO-8859-x file names may be fine if you won't ever need to:
- use git-web, JGit, gitk, git-gui...
- exchange repos with "normal" (UTF-8) Unices, Mac and Windows systems
- publish your work on a git hosting service (and expect file and
  ref names to show up correctly in the web interface)
- store the repo on Unicode-based file systems (JFS, Joliet, UDF,
  exFat, NTFS, HFS, CIFS...)

Yes, that is exatly what I said, isn't it?  "Use whatever works for
your project, we do not dictate."

These restrictions are not that obvious when you start a new git
project,...

Or any project for that matter, not limited to "git project", no?
Perhaps that is a moot point by now, as everything in the workd
seems to be a "git project" these days.