Posted by Opanas on March 04, 2002 at 12:22:52:
In Reply to: Re: Український Linux cure for IE's ukrainophobia posted by Bohdan A. Oryshkevich on March 04, 2002 at 09:44:24:
: My KO18 reads many other sites perfectly well. I for the most part was complaining about compatibility with the Linux site with my KO18.
Apparently you don't understand that ukrainian standard KOI8-U is different from KOI8-R.
To your and Microsoft information ukrainian language and KOI8-U is different from russian language and KOI8-R. www.linux.org.ua has
relevant information regarding this.
Quite a while ago I was able to read all sites including linux.org.ua in KOI8-U without any difficulties from any availale IE. I agree that it takes some time learning how to use unreliable Microsoft IE. Hopefully Microsoft tech suport team will be able to resolve your problems. One can find thier contacts from microsoft web site.
Good luck.
: I would add that my MS Word comes with the letter Ґ as I here demonstrate. I have done nothing else to the MS Word to make this happen. All my FREE or enclosed Ukrainian MS fonts have this.
According to Ukrainian government-approved standards (but not Microsoft internally closed solutions) letter Ґ has it's specific location on a keyboard. Microsoft has at that location russian letter "je".
It's similar if typing letter A on your english keyboard instead of the letter A you will get german letter "je". Microsoft does not have any support for KOI8-U while typing. This is an obvious ignorance by Microsoft in relation to Ukrainian standards. Microsoft management has to learn that ukrainian standards are different from russian ones. Until they will not do so you may have problems accessing ukrainian sites and a big chunk of ukrainian information on the net. Again it has nothing to do with Ukraine but only with Microsoft.
: The reason why the situation is different in Poland is that people are different there.
Situation between Microsoft and the rest of the world is different. European Opera, Linux, American Netscape, Sun, Apple, e.t.c nobody has problems with any ukrainian texts like Koi8-U nor with current and future ukrainian localisations. Apparently the only ukrainophobic tendencies has Microsoft. There were many publication about it in Ukrainian press and many more will appear again and again until they will change their attitute toward ukrainian customers.
: Also Poland has a reputation in America that it fought against Communism and the Pope is Polish.
There is not much use of mixing politics with ukrainephobia. To your information in a fight with communism ukraine lost ten times more lives then poland. So please don't use such an arrogant arguments regarding millions who persihed. It's a bad taste and disrespectfull to their lives.
: If Ukrainians do not respect their own language, then you cannot expect Microsoft to do so. If they see that ninety percent of Ukrainians can use Russian and will use it if necessary then why develop a Ukrainian version of MS products? From their point of view. I would state if the Ukrainian government follows Moscow then why should not Microsoft? Is it not Ukrainian policy to enter Europe with Moscow? Why not alone?
Ukraine will decide what they need without
your silly questions or lam arguments. On the other hand your partners in Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk if they are using illegal russian microsoft will be punished - it's exactly what
Microsoft expects. I'm not asking you whether
they are using in fact illegal russian Microsoft software. I just suggested that it's more convenient and ethical to use legal ukrainian localised linux for example. If you want to help them legalise their software you have two reasonably sounding choises:
use linux or buy for them ukrainian localised
Microsoft products in 2-3 month. I do not expect that you will help them in either one, except blaiming again ukrainians for your own difficulties.
: If you want people to use your product then you have to persuade them not argue with them and you have to provide an easy to use product with wide ranging compatibility.
In your specific situation it may be not so easy to swich from Microsoft to linux. However for such customers as you are in several month there will be an alteranative www.lindows.com Hopefully they will make support for ukrainian customers much better then Microsoft. Even if they will not do so I would write them a letter so they'll add such a feature that Microsoft is missing.