in reply to Re^7: Native newline encoding
in thread Native newline encoding

Yes.

Well, that is simply incorrect. It's not incorrect to say it is a text format, of course. It's just incorrect to say that it isn't binary. Textual data is binary even if not all binary data is textual. I imagine you know this, but on computers,† even text is represented with two values.‡

The only time drawing a distinction between text and binary data actually matters is when when working on a platform that was designed with the questionable choice to arbitrarily support two different sets of semantics.

What you should learn from all the "unicrap" stuff is that text was just never a very meaningful term to begin with. It's only precise use is as an instruction to handle the data in a platform specific manner.

Furthermore, on those platforms where it is meaningful, it's a relic from an era when the only data presented for human consumption was textual. Nowadays, that's just not the case; and the appropriate question is simply: "what format?" Is it an old word document? A spreadsheet? ASCII? ASCII with CRLF line endings? UTF-8? JPG data? Etc.

† Almost all computers in use today, that is.

‡ Hence, even the term 'binary data' is generally redundant.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

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Re^9: Native newline encoding
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on May 28, 2012 at 17:53 UTC
    Blah ...

    Now who's "getting all epistemological".

    What you should learn ...

    What you need to learn is that your platform-bias bullshit is naught but the meaningless dogma of last resort.

    If there were no platform differences, the subject of this entire thread wouldn't exist, but it does. And you can neither wish it away nor bullshit your way around it.

    With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

    The start of some sanity?
[reply]
      What you need to learn is that your platform-bias bullshit is naught but the meaningless dogma of last resort.

      What platform bias?

      My bias is against poor design choices. And pretty much every platform has some design choices that I think are, at best, questionable.

      The design choice we are talking about will likely disappear in time. That's something to look forward to.

      This sub-thread was in response to your histrionics about RFCs getting "messy" with "unicrap". Your emotional language notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure the RFCs will remain the antithesis of "messy." Plenty of them, over the last 15+ years, have already been written with Unicode in mind. There's really no need for the gnashing of teeth and ringing of hands.

      -sauoq
      "My two cents aren't worth a dime.";
[reply]

        The RFC in question mentions Unicode exactly twice. Both times in reference only to file names, not their content.

        And even for file names, and goes on to state: It is understood that the lack of well-defined semantics for file names may cause interoperability problems.

        As for emotions; the only emotions I see are your embarrassment at making an obvious cock-up, and your ever more desperate & puerile attempts to distract from it.

        With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
        Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
        "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
        In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

        The start of some sanity?
[reply]

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom