Put the blame on me ;-)

[Steve Slevinski]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for you comments.

On 9/14/11 9:32 AM, Alan Post wrote:
> I have struggled just to keep up with the changes to SWIS and
> ISWA--I've had to convert my database three or four times, which
> sometimes takes me many months to get around to--during which I
> don't use SignWriting.  :-(

Yes, I understand this very well.  Every time I put out a new standard, 
I make additional busy work for myself and others.  Back in 2008, I was 
hoping that I had a stable standard, but every time that I tried to use 
the standard, I always found a serious flaw that could not be 
overlooked.  I would find that my code libraries were becoming overly 
complicated and slow.  The only way to address the various flaws was 
with a new encoding.

> I *love* SWIS2.  I am producing documents with it that are so, so
> beautiful compared to SWIS.  I don't wish to complain about where
> we are, but to articulate just how expensive changes are, to me.
> Even seemingly minor issues can be major headaches for me--I would
> much rather be in the business of *using* SignWriting!
Agreed!  I love SWIS 2 as well.  The code is simple and clean.  It does 
what I want it to do.  I have plans to expand the code and there are no 
more serious flaws that will get in the way.

The ISWA 2010 has been stable since it's release in 2010 and the Unicode 
proposal will hopefully be approved next year.

There will not be any more changes to the encoding so you will not need 
to convert your database again.  Any writing you do today will still be 
valid years from now.

Fortunately, the question of writing style is outside of the encoding.

Regards,
-Steve