As expected, I completely agree. It was only the sweeping
statement to which I was taking exception. I'm certainly not
aware of anyplace where ydm is the officially-preferred format
although, like you, I wouldn't be especially surprised if
someone found one.
john
--On Saturday, March 13, 2010 16:09 -0800 "Phillips, Addison"
<addison@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> John Klensin noted:
>>
>> While it doesn't change the conclusion, I've actually see many
>> uses of ydm in the wild. I haven't taken the time to try to
>> find out, but I've assumed that was the reason why the current
>> version of ISO 8601 moved to "one delimiter and it is hyphen"
>> from the permissiveness about delimiter choices in its
>> predecessors.
>>
>
> Normally I hesitate before making sweeping statements like
> that :-). In this case, I omitted, for the sake of brevity,
> noting that there are many MANY formats in use, especially in
> specialized fields such as accounting, and that, like most
> anything involving culture or language, one can find nearly
> any variation, no matter how "strange" or "foreign" it seems
> to outsiders, that is actually in customary use *somewhere*.
>
> There is also a difference between "regularized" usage and
> formats derived by well-meaning people based on their own
> experience (i.e. a European might very well think first of
> ydm, being used to seeing the day preceding the month).
>
> However, I'm unaware of any locale where 'ydm' is a
> *preferred* format, any casual or specialized usage
> notwithstanding. Probably someone will go find one, just to
> prove my first paragraph. In I18N, we usually say that the
> answer to any question begins with the phrase "well, it
> depends..."
>
> Finally, if one is reading standards, it behooves one to
> understand the customs and language adopted there. Date
> formats such as this are one such example, just as certain
> English words have special meaning in a standards context. The
> use of a well-known, unambiguous format, such as ISO
> 8601-derived dates, is sensible as such a standard as it is
> generally inoffensive, language/culture neutral, and
> recognizable.
>
> Addison
>
> Addison Phillips
> Chair -- W3C Internationalization WG
>
> Internationalization is not a feature.
> It is an architecture.
>
>
>
>
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