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Re: [idn] stability



It's very quiet on this mailing list...

The idempotence invariant seems especially important.

Keep in mind that IDNA requires Nameprep to be applied a 2nd time in order to determine whether a Punycode label may be displayed in its Unicode form.


If there is a time to break compatibility for something, it is now, for this.

Note that we wouldn't actually be "breaking compatibility" since it is highly unlikely that anyone would have created a domain label with such strange combinations of characters. Also, even though there are implementations out there that implement UAX #15 the "wrong" way, keep in mind that there are also implementations that implement it the other way. This, in itself, is sufficient grounds for IETF to not only show concern, but also take action.


On the other hand, IDNA seems to have done it in the opposite order. First, the spec was written, and now that we have deployed some implementations, we are finding serious problems with punctuation marks and symbols.

Nobody has bothered to point out that this remark was unfair, so I'll just say it myself. IDNA is at the Proposed Standard Maturity Level, so we still have the opportunity to improve the specs for the Draft Standard and Internet Standard Maturity Levels. This is not only possible, it is expected.


Erik