Re: [bug-gnu-libiconv] Big5-UAO

[Bruno Haible]

Hi,

oCameLo wrote:
> Also, would you please consider to add Big5-UAO to libiconv (not in
> extra encodings)?
> 
> Big5-UAO's not an official standard, but it's the most used Big5
> except CP950 in Taiwan.
> 
> Ruby has done for it: http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/show/1784

Can you please show evidence that this encoding is wide-spread in
Taiwan? A Google search for
   "big5-uao" -ruby
does not turn up much information that I could understand. When you
compare the hit counts
   "big5-uao"              -> 1950
   "big5-uao" -ruby        ->  322
it seems this encoding is nearly only known among Ruby programmers
and not elsewhere.

Second, once you have evidence that it is wide-spread, I need an
authoritative mapping table from/to Unicode.

You say "Big5-UAO's not an official standard". This is exactly the problem.
If something is not a standard, not only it may be extended or changed
without notice, but - even worse - different organizations or groups may
make different, incompatible changes to it. This is how to big mess around
BIG5 has come into existence, in the past. You will certainly understand
that I don't want to contribute to this mess. Especially since there is now
a semi-official encoding called BIG5-2003.

Bruno