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diff --git a/_posts/utf8.rst b/_posts/utf8.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..953044e --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/utf8.rst @@ -0,0 +1,80 @@ +category: + - computer +title: Finally, UTF-8 locale (and about Compose) +date: 2005-09-23T01:16:00 +--- + +I have finally bitten the bullet and switched my locale to +`cs\_CZ.UTF-8`_. When still writing this blog in gvim (`the end of my +relation with vim`_ and here_), I begun to write it in `UTF-8`_ and it +was such a relief. Suddenly, I didn‘t have to use ugly kludges like \`\` +or --. Of course, the problem is that there are so many supplementary +characters which could be suddenly used, that no keyboard layout is able +to handle all of them (I think) and some other solution has to be found. +Vim has digraphs_ which are really quite useful, but as everything +else in vim, there is no connection to the outside world. Switch to +Kate/KWrite was very pleasant issue, but obviously there are no digraphs +native to them. My first reaction was to use `HTML entities`_ and +translate them to the pure UTF-8 version with `my special Python +script`_. However, I felt very strongly that this is not the way. + +`I asked on cz.comp.linux`_ about experience of people with inserting +these non-keyboardish characters and the answer was “Use Compose key”. I +begun to search on Google for the answer how to make it work and finally +I found that actually the best source of information about the +combinations of keys for Compose (aside from `the article on +Wikipedia`_) is `directly in my computer`_. The only problem was that +with ISO 8859-2 based locale only very small part of keys actually +worked. This was the last straw which broke my back of resistance +towards switching whole computer to UTF-8. The problem is (as always) +`Midnight Commander`_, which Debian version doesn’t work with UTF-8 at +all (especially, panel frames are affected by this). So, again, Googling +and Googling until I've found `this thread on some discussion board`_, +which contains `a link to patched version of MC`_ (requires also +`non-standard version of slang`_), which somehow works in my console. +However, MC is not a critical for me anymore, now when Krusader_ is +finally `stable enough and featurefull enough to compete with MC`_. + +One more problem—when I have switched to UTF-8 many filenames with +accented characters were suddenly broken. I thought that Linux +filesystems store all metada in UTF-8 already. Oh well, they probably +don’t. So I had to run output of ``locate`` through ``cstocs`` and then +to find out with ``diff`` what all has been changed. + +Looking at all this issue with at least some distance, it seems to that +actually Compose key combines best from all the options—it works as well +as vim’s digraphs, but it is X11-wide, which is cool (and yes, of +course, it is much better than M$-Windows’s ``Alt+<number>``). + +.. _`cs\_CZ.UTF-8`: + http://www.cestina.cz/pocestovani/unix/ +.. _`the end of my relation with vim`: + http://groups.google.com/group/linux.debian.maint.kde/browse_frm/thread/17b2a7cdaf669266/ +.. _here: + http://groups.google.com/group/comp.editors/browse_frm/thread/efa5636fb753e83d/ +.. _`UTF-8`: + http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/%7Emgk25/unicode.html +.. _digraphs: + http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/digraph.html +.. _`HTML entities`: + http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/entities/ +.. _`my special Python script`: + http://www.ceplovi.cz/matej/progs/scripts/deent +.. _`I asked on cz.comp.linux`: + http://groups.google.com/group/cz.comp.linux/browse_frm/thread/f86c0425956b296c/ +.. _`the article on Wikipedia`: + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compose +.. _`directly in my computer`: + file:///usr/X11R6/lib/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose +.. _`Midnight Commander`: + http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=242194 +.. _`this thread on some discussion board`: + http://forum.ubuntu.ru/index.php?topic=83.msg529#msg529 +.. _`a link to patched version of MC`: + http://yuozhny.ru/deb/mc/mc_4.6.0-1_i386.deb +.. _`non-standard version of slang`: + http://yuozhny.ru/deb/mc/mc_4.6.0-1_i386.deb +.. _Krusader: + http://www.krusader.org +.. _`stable enough and featurefull enough to compete with MC`: + http://linuxtoday.com/developer/2005060900426NWCYSW |