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Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default?

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L'octidi 8 prairial, an CCXXV, gwmfms6@openmailbox.org a écrit :
> A lot of Europe does it, and it is wrong! It goes back quite a while to when
> it was fashionable to use a dot (.) as a symbol for multiplication. So
> Europe stopped using a dot to signal a decimal point to avoid confusion
> (they should have stopped stopped using a dot as a symbol for
> multiplication). In the U.S. and G.B. an X was used for multiplication
> symbol so they continued on using a dot for decimal (as it should be).

What glyph is used as a separator does not really matter. What really
matter is that it is convenient and everybody uses the same. We could
have settled for a heart-shaped symbol, it would have worked.

In this matter, considerations such as "preserving local cultures" are
irrelevant. It is a matter of communication, an even of (slightly)
technical communication. Convenience and unambiguity are paramount.
Hence the "everybody uses the same" condition.

Convenience sets a few rules. The most important of these is: the
decimal separator, which has a semantic role, must be much more visible
than the thousand separator, which has only an aesthetic role. Thus, dot
for decimal and comma for thousand is stupid.

I suggest to apply the following rules, whenever you are free to chose
your rules:

- Be liberal in what you accept: understand both dots and commas, do not
  start a pedantic rant if you get a text with the "wrong" one.

- In "casual" computerized text, especially monospace, use dot for
  decimal and no thousand separator.

- In typeset text, use dot for decimal and a thin space for thousands
  (possibly: only if the range of the numbers exceeds 9999, i.e. no
  thousand separator for years for example).

- In hand-written text, the visibility of the dot is not reliable
  enough, use a comma for decimal. And a small space for thousand.

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George

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How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-26 17:40 +0200
  Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-05-26 17:50 +0200
    Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-05-26 18:10 +0200
      Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-26 18:40 +0200
        Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-05-26 18:50 +0200
          Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-26 19:00 +0200
            Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-05-26 19:10 +0200
              Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2017-05-27 12:20 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-27 14:40 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2017-05-27 16:30 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-27 17:20 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2017-05-27 17:40 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? rhkramer@gmail.com - 2017-05-27 20:10 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2017-05-27 22:00 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Frank <zuiderduin@gmx.com> - 2017-05-27 17:00 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-27 17:30 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Jeremy Nicoll <jn.ml.dbn.25@letterboxes.org> - 2017-05-27 17:50 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Nicolas George <george@nsup.org> - 2017-05-27 17:50 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-27 18:10 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2017-05-28 03:50 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-05-30 14:50 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-30 18:30 +0200
                RE: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? "Emanuele Bernardi" <e.berna@posteo.net> - 2017-05-30 18:50 +0200
                RE: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-31 16:10 +0200
          Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-26 19:00 +0200
            Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2017-05-26 19:10 +0200
              Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? gwmfms6@openmailbox.org - 2017-05-26 19:10 +0200
                Re: How to set ISO date/time with en_US.utf8 as system default? James Cloos <cloos@jhcloos.com> - 2017-05-27 20:50 +0200

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