Re: Kernel utf-8 handling

Alexander E. Patrakov
2007-06-01T16:28:34Z

DervishD wrote:
> Hi all :)
>
> I have a do-it-yourself Linux box, and I'm planning to move to UTF8
> (currently I'm using es_ES locale, with latin1 encoding). One of my main
> concerns (apart from programs with little or no utf8 support, which I
> will have to suffer) is kernel handling, because I only use the console;
> I only use X and a terminal emulator if I can't avoid it.

The switch is possible. You could try the latest development LFS LiveCD
(http://ums.usu.ru/~patrakov/test/lfslivecd-x86-6.3-pre2-r1897.iso) and see
if it works for you (be sure to CC: me if you post any feedback). It will
automatically configure the console using a simple menu-driven interface.
Some interesting programs to try there: mutt, tin, lynx, finch.

> This said, I know that the console will give me no problems
> regarding character representantion (heck, I'm pretty sure that I will
> be able to use even the same font I'm using right now in the console if
> I get the proper unicode map), but probably will give me problems when
> *entering* characters. I've read that the kernel handles accented chars,
> and things like 'ñ' (ntilde) because it assumes that any composed
> character (composed using dead keys, for example) is in the latin1
> range. While this is not a perfect behaviour, it will work for me.

Yes.

> Will the console work as it works now if I can live with latin1
> accented characters only? Is there any terminal emulator *for the
> console*, not for X, that handles utf8? Will I be sentenced to X to be
> able to use my computer with utf8?

screen, jfbterm, iterm (jfbterm and iterm are not on my CD, but you can
build them from source there - the filesystem on the CD can be written to).
Note that jfbterm and iterm expect X fonts (or unifont) to be available, and
the CD doesn't have these fonts (fully switched to Xft).

--
Alexander E. Patrakov