Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Re: {arch} directory

[Jason McCarty]

Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> >>>>> "MJ" == MJ Ray <address@hidden> writes:
> 
>     MJ> In general, fine, but arch already declares some characters
>     MJ> off-limits itself.  As far as I know, I can't use letters like
>     MJ> ? in it.
> 
> That's not particularly interesting.  It's easily "fixed" by simply
> removing the limitation, and converting all text (file names and file
> contents) to UTF-8.  The reason for being conservative here is that
> people will insist on encoding ? as something other than 0xC4 0x89
> (for example, you just did, and I copied it), and then they'll
> complain when arch gives them back exactly what they gave it.  The
> question is how to defend arch from the slings and arrows of unjust
> lusers, and maybe even save said lusers' lower extremities.

Why would I encode ? as anything other than 0x3F? And why would I
complain if arch gave me back exactly that?

> The only interesting restrictions are on ASCII characters, namely, the
> space.  (Which is a bloody stupid thing to have in a file name; all
> the systems that support that also know about NO-BREAK SPACE.)

Bah, space is a perfectly acceptable character in filenames. I would
probably never think to use it in my source trees, but I find it very
convenient for use in documentation titles (superior to mnemonics,
underscores as spaces, or figuring out how and why to use no-break
space).

The only valid argument I see against spaces in arch-versioned files is
that it would be a pain in the ass to redesign the arch file formats and
implement the functionality.

Jason