> Other then that, newsreaders of all kinds are happy with iso8859-1.   
   > Having said that, it is possible to /force/ a character set in JamNNTPd   
   > on the area definition line.  One could force all postings in iso8859-1   
   > if so desired.   
      
    SS> Correction :  One can force the posting, IF one creates a UTF-8 to   
    SS> CP850 table -- however, it will have to drop characters or make a   
    SS> whole bunch of 'assumptions' and bad ones at that.   
      
   right... this is what i ran into when i started to convert back from utf-8 to   
   CP437... i also started to convert between CP437 and windows-1251 but there   
   are definitely specific character slots that are blank in windows-1251... i   
   highly detest seeing the CP437 ascii box drawning characters being translated   
   to + - and |... i've detested if for many years and only now see a possibility   
   but extremely slim :?   
      
    SS> Somehow we (the collective fidonet developers) need to address the   
    SS> character set problem.  New systems will continue to develop and   
    SS> from what I see on the horizon; these systems will even be more   
    SS> UTF-8 and perhaps UTF-16 dependent.    
      
   utf-8 is really all that's needed... i'm not aware of any specifics in utf-16   
   that utf-8 can't handle in today's world...   
      
    SS> Secondly, backward compatibility is great for transitional times;    
    SS> but we must cut off the old stuff so that the new generation of   
    SS> Fidonet can evolve without the restrictions of unsupported &   
    SS> abandoned software.   
      
   i'm not so sure about this... what about systems set up for nostalgia? are   
   they to be cut off and not be able to participate? the Radio Shack Color   
   Computer 3 (aka the Coco 3), Apple //, Apple //e, and other so called   
   "ancient" machines can still join fidonet and participate in today's   
   discussions... even old main frames if someone has the pocket book to fund   
   their power consumption ;)   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12)