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[Dotan Cohen]

On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 08:08, Shai Berger <shai at platonix.com> wrote:
> Hi Dotan,
>
> Sorry about the delay in getting back to you -- I just returned from a
> vacation.
>
> There's a little too little context here for me to understand what the
> discussion is about, or how I can help; I sincerely hope I can. Please note
> that I don't normally read linux-il.
>
> Have fun,
>        Shai.
>

Hello Shai. Regarding the proposed Hebrew layout there are some issues
that I would like to address:
1) The use of third and fourth-level keymaps.
2) The exclusion of the RLE, LRE, and PDF characters.

I do not see it mentioned anywhere, but I assume that the second level
is reserved for an en-us layout like the current Hebrew layout is.
Before I bring my arguments, I need to know if this is the case.

As for the exclusion of the RLE, LRE, and PDF characters, it has been
explained to me two reasons for excluding them:
1) People do not know how to use them properly
2) Different software applications end the embedded sections
differently. For example, regarding plain text and email some
applications terminate the embedded section at the end of a line and
others at the end of the text document.

I see neither as being a good reason to exclude these very useful
characters from the layout. The first issue is already a non-starter
as most Israeli users do not know how to use a third- or fourth- level
layout. So the education issue has already been decided implicitly:
the new layout includes features that people will need to learn. The
second reason is also not a good argument for excluding the
characters: software inconsistencies in the face of ambiguous
standards is the norm, not the exception. Despite this, the characters
in question are very useful for RTL environments and there exist users
who do need them. I use the RLE many times per day, and the LRE
occasionally. I do not use the PDF however it does have a purpose
specifically for RTL languages.

-- 
Dotan Cohen

http://gibberish.co.il
http://what-is-what.com