The Linux kernel code has been rewritten to use Unicode to map characters to fonts. By downloading a single Unicode-to-font table, both the eight-bit character sets and UTF-8 mode are changed to use the font as indicated. This changes the semantics of the eight-bit character tables subtly. The four character tables are now: Map symbol Map name Escape code (G0) LAT1_MAP Latin-1 (ISO 8859-1) ESC ( B GRAF_MAP DEC VT100 pseudographics ESC ( 0 IBMPC_MAP IBM code page 437 ESC ( U USER_MAP User defined ESC ( K In particular, ESC ( U is no longer "straight to font", since the font might be completely different than the IBM character set. This permits for example the use of block graphics even with a Latin-1 font loaded. In accordance with the Unicode standard/ISO 10646 the range U+F000 to U+F8FF has been reserved for OS-wide allocation (the Unicode Standard refers to this as a "Corporate Zone", since this is inaccurate for Linux we call it the "Linux Zone"). U+F000 was picked as the starting point since it lets the direct-mapping area start on a large power of two (in case 1024- or 2048-character fonts ever become necessary). This leaves U+E000 to U+EFFF as End User Zone. The Unicodes in the range U+F000 to U+F1FF have been hard-coded to map directly to the loaded font, bypassing the translation table. The user-defined map now defaults to U+F000 to U+F1FF, emulating the previous behaviour. This range may expand in the future should it be warranted. Actual characters assigned in the Linux Zone -------------------------------------------- In addition, the following characters not present in Unicode 1.1.4 (at least, I have not found them!) have been defined; these are used by the DEC VT graphics map: U+F800 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 1 U+F801 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 3 U+F803 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 7 U+F804 DEC VT GRAPHICS HORIZONTAL LINE SCAN 9 The DEC VT220 uses a 6x10 character matrix, and these characters form a smooth progression in the DEC VT graphics character set. I have omitted the scan 5 line, since it is also used as a block-graphics character, and hence has been coded as U+2500 FORMS LIGHT HORIZONTAL. However, I left U+F802 blank should the need arise. Klingon language support ------------------------ Unfortunately, Unicode/ISO 10646 does not allocate code points for the language Klingon, probably fearing the potential code point explosion if many fictional languages were submitted for inclusion. There are also political reasons (the Japanese, for example, are not too happy about the whole 16-bit concept to begin with.) However, with Linux being a hacker-driven OS it seems this is a brilliant linguistic hack worth supporting. Hence I have chosen to add it to the list in the Linux Zone. Several glyph forms for the Klingon alphabet have been proposed. However, since the set of symbols appear to be consistent throughout, with only the actual shapes being different, in keeping with standard Unicode practice these differences are considered font variants. Klingon has an alphabet of 26 characters, a positional numeric writing system with 10 digits, and is written left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Punctuation appears to be only used in Latin transliteration; it appears customary to write each sentence on its own line, and centered. Space has been reserved for punctuation should it prove necessary. This encoding has been endorsed by the Klingon Language Institute. For more information, contact them at: http://www.kli.org/ Since the characters in the beginning of the Linux CZ have been more of the dingbats/symbols/forms type and this is a language, I have located it at the end, on a 16-cell boundary in keeping with standard Unicode practice. U+F8D0 KLINGON LETTER A U+F8D1 KLINGON LETTER B U+F8D2 KLINGON LETTER CH U+F8D3 KLINGON LETTER D U+F8D4 KLINGON LETTER E U+F8D5 KLINGON LETTER GH U+F8D6 KLINGON LETTER H U+F8D7 KLINGON LETTER I U+F8D8 KLINGON LETTER J U+F8D9 KLINGON LETTER L U+F8DA KLINGON LETTER M U+F8DB KLINGON LETTER N U+F8DC KLINGON LETTER NG U+F8DD KLINGON LETTER O U+F8DE KLINGON LETTER P U+F8DF KLINGON LETTER Q - Written in standard Okrand Latin transliteration U+F8E0 KLINGON LETTER QH - Written in standard Okrand Latin transliteration U+F8E1 KLINGON LETTER R U+F8E2 KLINGON LETTER S U+F8E3 KLINGON LETTER T U+F8E4 KLINGON LETTER TLH U+F8E5 KLINGON LETTER U U+F8E6 KLINGON LETTER V U+F8E7 KLINGON LETTER W U+F8E8 KLINGON LETTER Y U+F8E9 KLINGON LETTER GLOTTAL STOP U+F8F0 KLINGON DIGIT ZERO U+F8F1 KLINGON DIGIT ONE U+F8F2 KLINGON DIGIT TWO U+F8F3 KLINGON DIGIT THREE U+F8F4 KLINGON DIGIT FOUR U+F8F5 KLINGON DIGIT FIVE U+F8F6 KLINGON DIGIT SIX U+F8F7 KLINGON DIGIT SEVEN U+F8F8 KLINGON DIGIT EIGHT U+F8F9 KLINGON DIGIT NINE Other Fictional and Artificial Scripts -------------------------------------- Since the assignment of the Klingon Linux Unicode block, a registry of fictional and artificial scripts has been established by John Cowan, . The ConScript Unicode Registry is accessible at http://locke.ccil.org/~cowan/csur/; the ranges used fall at the bottom of the End User Zone and can hence not be normatively assigned, but it is recommended that people who wish to encode fictional scripts use these codes, in the interest of interoperability. For Klingon, CSUR has adopted the Linux encoding. H. Peter Anvin