Re: /usr/lib/charset.alias

[Eric Blake]

Dermot McCluskey <Dermot.McCluskey <at> Sun.COM> writes:

> Apologies if this is not the correct alias for this question.

This list is reasonable for the question, since you encountered the file when 
installing m4; but I'm not the most knowledgeable on the issue.  You might have 
better luck by asking on bug-gnu-libiconv, where the upstream source for 
charset.alias generation is maintained, or on bug-gnu-gettext, which makes the 
most use of the file.

> 
> Where can I find out more about the /usr/lib/charset.alias
> file installed by m4 (1.4.9)?

m4 1.4.11 is the latest stable release, and fixes several bugs present in 1.4.9.

charset.alias is generated by any GNU project that uses libiconv/gettext for 
character encoding translation; see the file lib/config.charset.  m4 does not 
yet support message translation, but picked up charset.alias generation by 
virtue of using gnulib modules related to gettext.  The file is meant to grow 
in scope; as additional GNU packages are installed, the file is edited to show 
the increased list of client programs, as well as updating the list of known 
aliases if generated from a newer version of config.charset.

> 
> On my system (Solaris) this file is already installed by
> glib and there is a similar table in /usr/lib/iconv/alias.
> 
> Is /usr/lib/charset.alias a recognized, stable interface?

That is something better asked of the libiconv/gettext maintainer.  It is 
intended to reflect what the GNU tools can expect from your platform's native 
capabilities in the iconv arena.

> 
> Would it be a big job for me to patch m4 to use the
> existing iconv and gettext on my system rather than
> /usr/lib/charset.alias?

Don't bother patching just the m4 tarball, since m4 does not maintain any of 
the sources of the file.  Rather, patch lib/config.charset, and send that patch 
to bug-gnu-libiconv.  Then _all_ GNU programs that share the generated 
charset.alias will benefit.

-- 
Eric Blake