





Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                       K. Whistler
Request for Comments: 6082                                  Sybase, Inc.
Obsoletes: 2482                                                 G. Adams
Category: Informational                              Skynav (Phil), Inc.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                M. Duerst
                                                Aoyama Gakuin University
                                                         R. Presuhn, Ed.
                                                              J. Klensin
                                                           November 2010


   Deprecating Unicode Language Tag Characters: RFC 2482 is Historic

Abstract

   RFC 2482, "Language Tagging in Unicode Plain Text", describes a
   mechanism for using special Unicode language tag characters to
   identify languages when needed without more general markup such as
   that provided by XML.  The Unicode Consortium has deprecated that
   facility and strongly recommends against its use.  RFC 2482 has been
   moved to Historic status to reduce the possibility that Internet
   implementers would consider that system an appropriate mechanism for
   identifying languages.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6082.












Whistler, et al.              Informational                     [Page 1]

RFC 6082                  RFC 2482 to Historic             November 2010


Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. Action ..........................................................2
   3. Security Considerations .........................................3
   4. Acknowledgments .................................................3
   5. References ......................................................3
      5.1. Normative References .......................................3
      5.2. Informative References .....................................3

1.  Introduction

   RFC 2482, "Language Tagging in Unicode Plain Text" [RFC2482],
   describes a mechanism for using special Unicode language tag
   characters to identify languages when needed.  It is an idea whose
   time never quite came.  It has been superseded by whole-transaction
   language identification such as the MIME Content-language header
   [RFC3282] and more general markup mechanisms such as those provided
   by XML.  The Unicode Consortium has deprecated the language tag
   character facility and strongly recommends against its use.  RFC 2482
   has been moved to Historic status to reduce the possibility that
   Internet implementers would consider that tagging system an
   appropriate mechanism for identifying languages.

   A discussion of the status of the language tag characters and their
   applicability appears in Section 16.9 of The Unicode Standard
   [Unicode52].

2.  Action

   RFC 2482 has been deprecated and reclassified as Historic.  Internet
   protocols and Standards-Track documents should not use the facilities
   described in that document.



Whistler, et al.              Informational                     [Page 2]

RFC 6082                  RFC 2482 to Historic             November 2010


3.  Security Considerations

   By deprecating RFC 2482, we eliminate a facility that is no longer
   encouraged or supported by the Unicode Consortium and that may have
   been slightly risky in use if misinterpreted or if expectations of
   support were not met.  So, if this action has any effect on Internet
   security at all, it should be positive.

4.  Acknowledgments

   Helpful comments were received from Peter Koch and S. Moonesamy.

5.  References

5.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2482]    Whistler, K. and G. Adams, "Language Tagging in Unicode
                Plain Text", RFC 2482, January 1999.

   [Unicode52]  The Unicode Consortium.  The Unicode Standard, Version
                5.2.0, defined by: "The Unicode Standard, Version
                5.2.0", (Mountain View, CA: The Unicode Consortium,
                2009. ISBN 978-1-936213-00-9).
                <http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode5.2.0/>.

5.2.  Informative References

   [RFC3282]    Alvestrand, H., "Content Language Headers", RFC 3282,
                May 2002.






















Whistler, et al.              Informational                     [Page 3]

RFC 6082                  RFC 2482 to Historic             November 2010


Authors' Addresses

   Kenneth Whistler
   Sybase, Inc.
   One Sybase Dr.
   Dublin, CA  94568
   USA

   Phone: +1 925 236 7429
   EMail: kenw@sybase.com


   Glenn Adams
   Skynav (Phil), Inc.
   Lot 14 Boton Area
   Subic Bay Freeport Zone  2222
   Philippines

   Phone:
   EMail: glenn@skynav.com


   Martin Duerst
   Aoyama Gakuin University
   5-10-1 Fuchinobe
   Sagamihara, Kanagawa  229-8558
   Japan

   Phone: +81 42 759 6329
   Fax:   +81 42 759 6495
   EMail: duerst@it.aoyama.ac.jp


   Randy Presuhn (editor)
   San Jose, CA  95120
   USA

   Phone:
   EMail: randy_presuhn@mindspring.com


   John C Klensin
   1770 Massachusetts Ave, Ste 322
   Cambridge, MA  02140
   USA

   Phone: +1 617 245 1457
   EMail: john+ietf@jck.com



Whistler, et al.              Informational                     [Page 4]

