🚀 go-pugleaf

>This is what I was proposing.  Each character would require a sequence
>of code points, but the same is true of any English word.

And this is the fault of decomposition schemes.  They do not reduce the
number of distinct encodings needed to represent characters, and so do
not reduce the number of bits.  They simply rearrange the bits
differently.

The only issue is that in a UNIFIED character set, like UNICODE, fully
composed Han characters take most of the space.  Well, too bad.  UNICODE
was not developed in Asia, and had no *initial* Asian input [flame away
guys, this is my opinion and I have been fairly well roasted in the past
for it :-) ]

The reason this issue bothers me so much is what I perceive as the process:

1> A somewhat novel idea (a universal character encoding) is developed
in the US.

2> It does not address the needs of Asian users very well.

3> It is marketed agressively in the US.

4> *US* developers like it, but must meet the needs of their Asian customers.

5> To meet this need more Han characters are put in the set than was
envisioned by the original developers.

6> The Asian customers are blamed for this.

Blaming customers for not liking your product is economic suicide!  How
well do you think Honda would be doing in the US if they had kept on
pushing their original "rollerskate-with-an-engine" entry into the US
market?  How well would Microsoft be doing if they had continued to
ignore the popularity of GUI's and stuck with the original DOS?  If the
customers want something other than you are delivering then that is 100%
your problem, period.

Personally (and I mean this, this is is strictly my opinion) I think
that the entire 16K hole in UNICODE should be filled with Han characters
and all of the silliness about Hieroglyphics, etc be pushed into some
character plane in hyperspace.  This has much to to with the proportion
of my salary which comes from HP sales to East Asians vs. the
proportion of my salary which comes from HP sales to ancient Egyptians.

I am not an idealist, I am in this to make money... :-)

--arne

DISCLAIMER:  These opinions are completely my own and have no relationship
to any position or view of the Hewlett-Packard Company.