Unicode 10 support and maintenance takeover

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Hi all,

After long discussions with Behdad behind the scenes, he has asked me to
take over the maintainer task of fribidi, which I have agreed to do. Let me
first of all thank Behdad for bringing fribidi to what it is today! I
started the fribidi project back in 1999 as a proof of concept and hoping
it would help in proliferating BiDi support in free software. Soon Behdad
took over the maintenance and with his perseverance over the years as a
maintainer have helped fulfilling this goal way beyond what I had hoped
for. Thanks again!

As I have much less experience in GNU software engineering than Behdad, I
must rely on the community more than he had to, which is part of the reason
for this email.

The main task that lies ahead of us is to release fribidi with support for
the isolating characters that were introduced into Unicode-6.3.

The code is more or less ready for this branch (though possibly not fully
optimized) and it resides in:

https://github.com/fribidi/fribidi/tree/unicode-10

But, and this is the problem, that I need advice about. This version breaks
binary compatibility with earlier versions. This break of compatibility is
due to the bidi algorithm having introduced  dependency of the bracket type
of each character, so we have to supply this bracket type as a parameter.

The main options are:

   - Just let the API break, and put some comments in the header files
   describing to users what needs to be done.
   - Create new functions, e.g. fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels_ex() that
   receives the new parameter, and let the old
   fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels() function call the new *_ex() function
   with a null ptr for the bracket type.
   - Rename this library fribidi10 (10 as in the Unicode version) and let
   it be a different projects from the previous fribidi. This way nothing is
   broken in the old api, and whoever wants to use the updated bidi algo is
   free to use this ne library.

Or do you have any other idea?

I would also very much appreciate to get feedback and bug reports about
this new branch.

Thanks in advance!

Dov

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,he=
lvetica,sans-serif">Hi all,</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font=
-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" =
style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">After long discussions wit=
h Behdad behind the scenes, he has asked me to take over the maintainer tas=
k of fribidi, which I have agreed to do. Let me first of all thank Behdad f=
or bringing fribidi to what it is today! I started the fribidi project back=
 in 1999 as a proof of concept and hoping it would help in proliferating Bi=
Di support in free software. Soon  Behdad took over the maintenance and wit=
h his perseverance over the years as a maintainer have helped fulfilling th=
is goal way beyond what I had hoped for. Thanks again!</div><div class=3D"g=
mail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><d=
iv class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"=
>As I have much less experience in GNU software engineering than Behdad, I =
must rely on the community more than he had to, which is part of the reason=
 for this email.</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:ari=
al,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"fo=
nt-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The main task that lies ahead of us i=
s to release fribidi with support for the isolating characters that were in=
troduced into Unicode-6.3.</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-=
family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" s=
tyle=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The code is more or less re=
ady for this branch (though possibly not fully optimized) and it resides in=
:</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sa=
ns-serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial=
,helvetica,sans-serif"><a href=3D"https://github.com/fribidi/fribidi/tree/u=
nicode-10">https://github.com/fribidi/fribidi/tree/unicode-10</a></div><div=
 class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><=
br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,=
sans-serif">But, and this is the problem, that I need advice about. This ve=
rsion breaks binary compatibility with earlier versions. This break of comp=
atibility is due to the bidi algorithm having introduced=C2=A0 dependency o=
f the bracket type of each character, so we have to supply this bracket typ=
e as a parameter.<br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-famil=
y:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=
=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The main options are:<br></div>=
<div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-seri=
f"><ul><li>Just let the API break, and put some comments in the header file=
s describing to users what needs to be done.<br></li><li>Create new functio=
ns, e.g. fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels_ex() that receives the new parame=
ter, and let the old fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels() function call the n=
ew *_ex() function with a null ptr for the bracket type. <br></li><li>Renam=
e this library fribidi10 (10 as in the Unicode version) and let it be a dif=
ferent projects from the previous fribidi. This way nothing is broken in th=
e old api, and whoever wants to use the updated bidi algo is free to use th=
is ne library.<br></li></ul><p>Or do you have any other idea?=C2=A0</p><p>I=
 would also very much appreciate to get feedback and bug reports about this=
 new branch.<br></p><p>Thanks in advance!</p><p>Dov</p><p><br></p></div></d=
iv>

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