RE: 10646 & Unicode

A bit off topic of imaa, but so much has been said and not always
correctly on the matter.

Mark Davis has already presented most of the points I would have
mentioned concerning the synchronization between ISO 10646 and
Unicode/UTC, so I don't need to repeat any of that. I would just add the
following points:
- costwise, 10646 doesn't cost an arm and a leg anymore, 83CHF (check
the ISO web site) for Part1 is still too much but on the same order of
magnitude as the Unicode book. With the merged version coming up, there
is a good chance that the sum will be less than the 2 previous parts.
- as time goes 10646 tends to incorporate more and more of the important
features of the Unicode Standard. For example it does normatively
reference the Unicode Bidi algorithm and the Normalization Unicode UAX.
Basically what happened when folks in SC2/WG2 recognized the needs for
these definitions it was found not surprisingly that there were no need
to reinvent the wheel.
- a side effect of this dual referencing is that it enforces additional
checking when the UTC wants to update any of these technical reports.
- It may surprise some, but in effect the same tool and team are
maintaining both the Unicode data and ISO 10646 data. This is to avoid
as much as possible synchronization errors.
- There is more in ISO 10646 than just glyph and names. There is almost
100 pages of textual contents which, for the most part, is also in the
Unicode book but it is worth checking. For example 10646 tends to be
terser which I consider a feature.
- ISO 10646 is the primary issuer of source references information for
CJK characters (both Unified and Compatibility). Because of the
synchronization effort that data is reflected in the Unicode Unihan
database.

Like many I wish the ISO work was more accessible, but in fact anybody
working either on any ISO national body as contributing experts to SC2
or through the UTC (using its liaison status) has access to the working
drafts.

Michel Suignard
ISO/IEC 10646 project editor.