Hallo Richard!   
      
    RM> ISO is a standards organization that DOES standardize character   
    RM> encodings.   
      
   Yes they do.  Not only that they register all the proper aliases, including   
   for iso-8859-1.   
      
    RM> And maybe you too also have the imagination to delete the dash in   
    RM> your mind.   
      
   I am not a tosser nor an editor.  As of this writing neither of the computers   
   I am currently deploying have the imagination to delete anything other than   
   what they are programmed to delete.  Both have access to iconv to convert back   
   and forth to utf-8 when required but since the 8 bit encodings cannot be   
   readily identified, as well as misidentification by well meaning FTSC types,   
   they stick to utf-8 which they can readily identify;   
      
   -={ echo "A Møøse once bit my sister ..." | file -b - }=-   
   UTF-8 Unicode text   
      
   The same will not work with 8 bit encodings which is why a kludge is   
   required.  However a kludge is most often wrong or poorly identified such as   
   LATIN-1.   
      
   For the record ascii is fine;   
      
   -={ echo "A Moose once bit my sister ..." | file -b - }=-   
   ASCII text   
      
   :-)   
      
   Het leven is goed,   
   Maurice   
      
   ... Huil niet om mij, ik heb vi.   
   --- GNU bash, version 4.4.19(1)-release (x86_64-bonnell-linux-gnu)   
    * Origin: Little Mikey's EuroPoint - Ladysmith BC, Canada (2:280/464.113)