added TODOs for i18n (gengetopt and getopt mainly)

2 files changed, 373 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/docs/i18n/Interesting internationalization | Echoreply.txt b/docs/i18n/Interesting internationalization | Echoreply.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e077de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/i18n/Interesting internationalization | Echoreply.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,371 @@
+   #[1]RSS 2.0 [2]RSS .92 [3]Atom 0.3
+
+[4]Echoreply
+
+Computers, Science, Technology, Xen Virtualization, Hosting, The Internet,
+Geekdom And More
+
+     * [5]Site Home
+     * [6]Blog Home
+     * [7]RSS
+     * [8]Contact
+     * [9]Legal
+
+[10]Interesting internationalization
+
+   Posted on September 18, 2008
+   Filed Under [11]Programming |
+
+   I've been having a rather enjoyable discussion with [12]Lorenzo
+   Bettini, the author of GNU [13]Gengetopt and [14]Gengen. If you are not
+   familiar with Gengetopt, its a tool that simplifies generating the code
+   required for programs to accept options. I [15]talked about gengetopt a
+   while back on this blog.
+
+   The discussion surrounds support for internationalization, which simply
+   means a program printing output in whatever language your system is
+   using. A very popular means to accomplish this is the GNU gettext
+   library, or its counterpart in various other operating systems.
+   Disclamer, if you do not care about C standards and common UNIX
+   programming, this post will probably bore you to tears. However, your
+   welcome to read on if only to discover how much I value life in boring
+   geeky flavors :)
+
+   Recently, while working on HelenOS I found the need to implement
+   getopt. I'm working on something a lot like busybox, but from scratch.
+   Rather than re-invent the getopt wheel yet again, I dove into the
+   source code of GNU getopt as well as the various *BSD implementations
+   to find the one that was easiest to port. One thing that stood out at
+   me was that most implementations declared error strings and formats as
+   static, English strings.
+
+   A week later, a proposal to add gettext support came across the
+   gengetopt mailing list. I voted to not include it because the resulting
+   output would be at best mixed, as error strings in basic C89/C99 libc
+   are hard coded, usually in English. The getopt family of functions are
+   an interesting corner case, most core libc functions never print
+   anything ... they just exit with some value and set a global errno to
+   inform the calling function of what went wrong. Its then up to the
+   calling function to (use or not use) something like gettext to display
+   the information in the appropriate language.
+
+   This got me thinking .. if we're making a truly modern operating system
+   based on C89/C99 .. internationalization must be easy to leverage.
+   Talking with Lorenzo, some interesting ideas came to light.
+
+   Gettext is a great tool, however it introduces dependencies on shared
+   objects (or requires static linking). Simply parsing command line
+   arguments should not introduce additional dependencies. Additionally,
+   standard libc should not favor one internationalization library over
+   another, therefore its just not practical to include
+   internationalization in standard libc. However, stuff in libc that
+   prints strings can remain friendly to internationalization by simply
+   requiring one tiny additional step - have the programmer register a
+   callback function that gets all output instead of printing to the error
+   file descriptor directly in libc.
+
+   For instance, a modern getopt might look like this:
+
+   void getopt_callback(int level, char *format, int line)
+   {
+    switch (level) {
+    case GETOPT_EOK:
+     fprintf(stdout, "line %d of getopt.c says %s", line, format);
+     break;
+    case GETOPT_EFAIL:
+     fprintf(stderr, "line %d of getopt.c says %s", line, format);
+     break;
+    }
+    return;
+   }
+   int main(int argc, char **argv)
+   {
+    int c, opt_ind;
+    getopt_register_callback(getopt_callback);
+    for (c = 0, optind = 0, opt_ind = 0; c != -1;) {
+     c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "f:o:O", long_options, &opt_ind);
+     ......
+
+   As we can see, the getopt implementation does not actually print
+   anything, it allows the callback function to handle that. One could
+   very easily use internationalization tools within the callback, if they
+   wanted to do so. This goes (basically) for anything in core libc that
+   prints anything. The callback may be better typed as something like
+   getopt_callback_t.
+
+   This seems to be the favorable approach. Of course, getopt would
+   feature its own static callback that printed the strings as-is if the
+   calling function did not register one, this keeps from breaking
+   existing use.
+
+   After I finish some other tasks, I am going to take a stroll through
+   the HelenOS userspace generic libc to see if getopt is the only case
+   where this should be implemented. At the least, I'll implement this
+   getopt method there so that programs can be fully internationalized.
+
+   This also shows the virtue of not using printf() directly when you can
+   avoid it. Writing your own functions to print warnings or messages
+   allows someone else (even you) to go back and make only a few minor
+   changes in order for your program to support any language.
+
+   Working on a new OS that aims to be fully modern presents interesting
+   opportunities to pick things apart. Hopefully, this didn't put you to
+   sleep :)
+   [16]Share this post
+   [17]Submit to Bloglines [18]Submit to Del.icio.us [19]Submit to digg
+   [20]Submit to Facebook [21]Submit to Google Bookmarks [22]Submit
+   to reddit [23]Submit to Slashdot [24]Submit to Stumble Upon [25]Submit
+   to SphereIt [26]Submit to Technorati [27]Submit to Yahoo My Web
+   [28]Hide Sites
+
+You might also enjoy reading:
+
+     * [29]For Concurrency Issues, There Is Music (0)
+     * [30]The Great Microkernel Debate (2)
+     * [31]Xen And Single System Images (0)
+
+   Tags: [32]helenos, [33]Ideas, [34]interesting, [35]Programming
+
+Comments
+
+   Leave a Reply (NoFollow Free!)
+
+   Name or nickname(required)
+   ________________________________________
+
+   Email Address (kept private)(required)
+   ________________________________________
+
+   Website
+   ________________________________________
+
+   XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title="">
+   <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del
+   datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
+
+
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+   __________________________________________________
+
+   Submit Comment
+     * Recently written
+          + [36]For Concurrency Issues, There Is Music
+          + [37]Django And The Admin Anthem
+          + [38]The Great Microkernel Debate
+          + [39]Xen And Single System Images
+          + [40]Yes, I'm Still Alive
+          + [41]Please adopt /etc/vendor
+          + [42]My list for 2009
+          + [43]Web pages as graphs
+     * Me According To Ohloh
+       [44]Ohloh profile for Tim Post
+     * Read By Description
+          + [45]Free Software
+          + [46]ohno
+          + [47]haha
+          + [48]GNU
+          + [49]Programming
+          + [50]thinking out loud
+          + [51]interesting
+          + [52]Linux
+     * Twitter
+          + Writing proof of concept code, I may have a new (full time)
+            opportunity. [53]11 days ago
+          + My kernel's OOM killer has become sentient and self aware
+            [54]12 days ago
+          + Wrapping up nexgent for its first alpha release [55]69 days
+            ago
+     *
+          + Blogs I frequent
+               o [56]Corey Henderson
+               o [57]Jakub Jermar
+               o [58]John Hawks
+               o [59]Pavel Rimsky
+          + Current Projects
+               o [60]Ext3cow
+               o [61]Gridnix
+               o [62]HelenOS
+               o [63]My HG Repository
+               o [64]SRCE
+               o [65]Xen Guests
+          + For Developers
+               o [66]Blue - A Programming Language
+               o [67]Mercurial
+               o [68]ShareSource
+               o [69]Stackoverflow
+     * Archives
+          + [70]March 2009
+          + [71]February 2009
+          + [72]January 2009
+          + [73]December 2008
+          + [74]November 2008
+          + [75]October 2008
+          + [76]September 2008
+          + [77]August 2008
+          + [78]July 2008
+          + [79]June 2008
+          + [80]May 2008
+          + [81]April 2008
+          + [82]March 2008
+          + [83]February 2008
+          + [84]January 2008
+          + [85]December 2007
+          + [86]November 2007
+          + [87]October 2007
+          + [88]September 2007
+
+     *
+
+                                   Penguin
+     * Search
+          + ____________________
+     * Categories
+          + [89]Better Living
+          + [90]Blogeting
+          + [91]Computing
+          + [92]Free Software
+          + [93]Future Presents
+          + [94]Gizmos
+          + [95]GNU
+          + [96]Humor
+          + [97]Ideas
+          + [98]Linux
+          + [99]Neat Things
+          + [100]Parenting
+          + [101]Programming
+          + [102]Rants
+          + [103]Science
+          + [104]The Web Hosting Industry
+          + [105]Travels
+          + [106]Uncategorized
+          + [107]Xen
+     * Misc
+          + [108]Log in
+
+   [109]Valid XHTML Copyright © 2007 Tim Post - All Rights Reserved
+   The views and opinions expressed on this web site are my own and not
+   necessarily those of my employers or affiliates.
+   Theme made from [110]many free design elements, [111]powered by
+   Wordpress.
+
+References
+
+   1. http://echoreply.us/tech/feed/
+   2. http://echoreply.us/tech/feed/rss/
+   3. http://echoreply.us/tech/feed/atom/
+   4. http://echoreply.us/tech/
+   5. http://echoreply.us/
+   6. http://echoreply.us/tech/
+   7. http://echoreply.us/tech/feed/rss2/
+   8. http://echoreply.us/tech/contact/
+   9. http://echoreply.us/tech/legal/
+  10. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/
+  11. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/programming/
+  12. http://www.lorenzobettini.it/
+  13. http://www.gnu.org/software/gengetopt/gengetopt.html
+  14. http://www.gnu.org/software/gengen/
+  15. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/01/08/fun-with-gengetopt/
+  16. file://localhost/home/abaumann/projects/WolfBones/docs/i18n/Interesting%20internationalization%20|%20Echoreply.html
+  17. http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/
+  18. http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  19. http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  20. http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/
+  21. http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&output=popup&bkmk=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  22. http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  23. http://slashdot.org/bookmark.pl?url=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  24. http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit.php?url=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  25. http://www.sphere.com/search?q=sphereit:http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&title=Interesting+internationalization
+  26. http://www.technorati.com/faves?add=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/
+  27. http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/18/interesting-internationalization/&t=Interesting+internationalization
+  28. file://localhost/home/abaumann/projects/WolfBones/docs/i18n/Interesting%20internationalization%20|%20Echoreply.html
+  29. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/03/05/for-concurrency-issues-there-is-music/
+  30. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/19/the-great-microkernel-debate/
+  31. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/19/xen-and-single-system-images/
+  32. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/helenos/
+  33. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/ideas/
+  34. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/interesting/
+  35. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/programming/
+  36. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/03/05/for-concurrency-issues-there-is-music/
+  37. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/19/django-and-the-admin-anthem/
+  38. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/19/the-great-microkernel-debate/
+  39. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/19/xen-and-single-system-images/
+  40. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/19/yes-im-still-alive/
+  41. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/01/05/please-adopt-etcvendor/
+  42. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/12/30/my-list-for-2009/
+  43. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/12/28/web-pages-as-graphs/
+  44. http://www.ohloh.net/accounts/20338?ref=Detailed
+  45. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/free-software/
+  46. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/ohno/
+  47. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/haha/
+  48. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/gnu/
+  49. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/programming/
+  50. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/thinking-out-loud/
+  51. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/interesting/
+  52. http://echoreply.us/tech/tag/linux/
+  53. http://twitter.com/tinkertim/statuses/1273136035
+  54. http://twitter.com/tinkertim/statuses/1273063132
+  55. http://twitter.com/tinkertim/statuses/1095308437
+  56. http://cormander.com/
+  57. http://jakubsuniversalblog.blogspot.com/
+  58. http://johnhawks.net/weblog/
+  59. http://helenos-blog.pavel-rimsky.cz/
+  60. http://www.ext3cow.com/
+  61. http://gridnix.org/
+  62. http://www.helenos.org/
+  63. http://echoreply.us/hg/index.php
+  64. http://srce.echoreply.us/
+  65. http://sharesource.org/project/xguests/
+  66. http://www.lechak.info/blue/
+  67. http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/
+  68. http://sharesource.org/
+  69. http://stackoverflow.com/
+  70. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/03/
+  71. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/02/
+  72. http://echoreply.us/tech/2009/01/
+  73. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/12/
+  74. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/11/
+  75. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/10/
+  76. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/09/
+  77. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/08/
+  78. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/07/
+  79. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/06/
+  80. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/05/
+  81. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/04/
+  82. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/03/
+  83. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/02/
+  84. http://echoreply.us/tech/2008/01/
+  85. http://echoreply.us/tech/2007/12/
+  86. http://echoreply.us/tech/2007/11/
+  87. http://echoreply.us/tech/2007/10/
+  88. http://echoreply.us/tech/2007/09/
+  89. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/better-living/
+  90. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/blogeting/
+  91. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/computing/
+  92. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/free-software/
+  93. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/planned-projects/
+  94. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/gizmos/
+  95. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/gnu/
+  96. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/humor/
+  97. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/ideas/
+  98. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/linux/
+  99. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/neat-things/
+ 100. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/parenting/
+ 101. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/programming/
+ 102. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/rants/
+ 103. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/science/
+ 104. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/the-web-hosting-industry/
+ 105. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/travels/
+ 106. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/uncategorized/
+ 107. http://echoreply.us/tech/category/xen/
+ 108. http://echoreply.us/tech/wp-login.php
+ 109. http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer
+ 110. http://echoreply.us/design_credits.html
+ 111. http://wordpress.org/
diff --git a/docs/i18n/TODOS b/docs/i18n/TODOS
index cd409ba..270194b 100644
--- a/docs/i18n/TODOS
+++ b/docs/i18n/TODOS
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 - localization of gengetopt generated code? ok, it's just an example
   (testd), but we should have an idea about this, maybe extend gengetopt?
-
-
+  - see discussions about 'gettext' in 'getgetopt-user' mailing list
+  - see HelenOS comment on getopt in libc: Interesting internationalization | Echoreply.txt