OpenSource Approaches to Unicode Enablement Panel Discussion Panel
Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Panel Discussion
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Agenda n n n Panel Introductions Library Descriptions and Demos What is Open Source? What is the Open Source experience? Q and A 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Today’s Panel n n Frank Tang Helena Shih Ulrich Drepper Texin 17 th International Unicode Conference Netscape ICU glibc Moderator San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Library Descriptions and Demos n GNU libc http: //sourceware. cygnus. com/glibc n Mozilla: International Library of Mozilla http: //www. mozilla. org/projects/intl n IBM: International Components for Unicode http: //oss. software. ibm. com/icu 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
International Library for Mozilla Frank Tang Netscape Communications Mozilla
GNU Libc Ulrich Drepper GNU, Red. Hat
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement GNU libc n n Library supporting multibyte and wide characters localedef tool allows definition of locales for any charsets, including UTF 8, UCS 2 using charset requires just a description and a conversion module Wide character is UCS-4, native byte order 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement GNU libc conversion functions n n iconv() implementation is unique Conversions are transitive A to C = A to B to C n In most cases, UCS-4 is used as common denominator 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Licensing & Development Process n n n Red. Hat is completely open source. Code is licensed as LGPL, assigned to Free Software Foundation (FSF) This is the same method as GNU Small teams of developers with a “dictatorial decision maker”. Comments accepted, taken into account Extensive peer reviewing 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
International Components for Unicode (ICU) Helena Shih IBM Unicode Technology Center
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Unicode support in the Industry n n n Lack of a complete set of features in most implementations. Inconsistent across different environments. Win 32 vs. POSIX, for example. Poor portability. Unable to share the resources with other products. Almost no extensibility and customization. Not a concern for most companies when a product is first designed. 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Netfinity Server Apple G 3 Macintosh I C I IBM’s DB/2 Product C U U AS/400 e-Server 720 Microsoft NT Workstation World Wide Web S/390 Server 17 th International Unicode Conference Sun Ultra 60 Workstation San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU Objectives n Single release for world-wide distribution n Quality Unicode & I 18 N support across platforms n Simplified development localization process n Consistent results in both C/C++ and Java n Powerful, portable API available to the Open. Source development community n Important resources sharing mechanism 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU Features n n n Parallel to the i 18 n architecture in JDK All components multi-thread safe Full Unicode string manipulation Complete locale support, e. g. > 145 locales Fast and flexible character set conversion Efficient data loading mechanism 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU Features n n n Hierarchical resource bundles with flexible data storage mechanism Extensive calendar and timezone support Date, time, currency, number and message formatting Locale sensitive sorting (including Thai) Locale sensitive text boundary detection 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU Features n n n Customizable transliteration interface Unicode text compression algorithm Fast and compliant Unicode 3. 0 Bidi algorithm Most up-to-date Unicode 3. 0 support (including Normalization) All APIs support UTF-16 Partnership insures balanced viewpoints and practical solutions 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU 4 J - ICU for Java n n n n IBM developed extensive I 18 N library I 18 N code added to Java JDK 1. 1 Java code ported to C++ -> ICU available on alpha. Works Both ICU and Java classes continue development – Sometimes “leapfrogging” each other with features ICU open source, moves to developer. Works 2000 March: Java Code open source as “ICU 4 J” 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU 4 J Features n n Builds on Java 2 feature set Feature summary: – Advanced text boundary detection – Calendars: Hebrew, Hijri/Islamic, Japanese Gengou, Thai Buddhist – Spelled-out numbers – Normalization – Transliteration – Standard Unicode compression 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Demos n n Locale Explorer glibc 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Agenda n n n Panel Introductions Library Descriptions and Demos What is Open Source? What is the Open Source experience? Q and A 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement ICU Open. Source Objectives n De facto industry standard for Unicode support n Pervasive globalization technologies n Mature globalization technologies for customers n Support for other important Open. Source products: Linux, Apache, Mozilla, XML etc. 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Open-Source Models n The Apache model – Web access for CVS repository – Technical committees n Developer community support – icu@oss. software. ibm. com etc. mailing lists n Commercial product partnership – Real. Names, versant, GE. . . 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Why contribute to Open Source? n n n Requires robust I 18 n and portability Implementing alone, cost is considerable Sharing development is cost effective Shared knowledge with experts Ability to influence the end-result 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Why contribute to Open Source? n n n Provide portability and interoperability Going to Unicode 3. 0 is a sizable effort Commercial libraries insufficient Shared effort means our development focus is now aligned with our needs Share expertise, Give something Source access-Education, Self-reliance 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Why contribute to Open Source? n Concerns: – Giving away proprietary technology – Design by committee – Will release schedules fit product schedules? – Will library and product stay in synch? – Do all participants have common objectives? 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Why contribute to Open Source? n Concerns: – Management Perceptions “If it’s free, it must be for play…” – Entry requirements and qualifications to be able to affect direction or design – Patch integration, Release control and schedules – Build stability 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
Panel on Open-Source Approaches to Unicode Enablement Agenda n n n Panel Introductions Library Descriptions and Demos What is Open Source? What is the Open Source experience? Q and A 17 th International Unicode Conference San Jose, California, September 2000
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