Re: [xtm-wg] New language.xtm and country.xtm proposals

[Murray Altheim <murray.altheim@sun.com>]

Kal Ahmed wrote:
[...]
> Perhaps I'm way off here, but don't people use the ISO codes precisely to
> unambiguously represent the country/language ?

Yes they do. But the codes themselves are described as codes, not as
languages or countries. ISO and IETF disabuse themselves of that semantic
problem and basically say that if you want to refer to "German" using
our code, you're free to do so, but not with the idea that you're
doing any more than that. It's sort of like when you buy something and
they give you that multipage legal disclaimer that you toss away without
reading. "Please don't hold us responsible for the problems that might
occur if two or more people use our codes to represent things like
languages and countries that we know don't have any firm semantic
boundaries, that if you use 'English' between yourselves you agree 
that it's just a proxy for whatever you think 'English' is."

My updated topic maps do not use "ISO Language Code" as the typing 
topic, but of the updates simply describes the PSIs as instances of 
languages or countries, since that semantic (as I've been for quite
awhile now) been trying to point out would be a fallacy.

As for debating this much further, I've been trying to make plain that
I want this process to occur in the group. I find Lars Marius' tactic
of posting this now perhaps suits his agenda but is simply requiring 
that I either take part in an unformed discussion now or bow out 
and wait until we have a proper process under which to discuss this 
and come to real resolution over the issues. I prefer to bow out and 
wait the several weeks until Montreal.
 
Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim                         <mailto:murray.altheim&#x40;sun.com>
XML Technology Center
Sun Microsystems, Inc., MS MPK17-102, 1601 Willow Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025

      In the evening
      The rice leaves in the garden
      Rustle in the autumn wind
      That blows through my reed hut.  -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu

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