Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Kirk Lowery <klowery AT wts.edu>]

Dave Washburn wrote:

 > Somehow it doesn't surprise me that Microsoft supports further
 > proprietary obfuscation...

Without commenting (yet) on the merits of the dispute, I have just
quickly reviewed the proposals and associated list postings in
biblical-languages and elsewhere.

No one enjoys bashing The Evil Empire better than I, but I have yet to
see any evidence in this case. The proposal (and counter proposals)
are all motivated by an effort to make the Unicode standard work for
all types of Hebrew, and are not initiated by vested propriatory
interests.

Those for whom this discussion seems a bit arcane should note that
technologically we stand on the edge of leaping off into widespread
Unicode use in biblical studies. The software, fonts, rendering
engines are all approaching real maturity. If we do nothing, events
will pass us by. Hence, the flurry of activity to try to Get It Right
The First Time. :-)

Blessings,

Kirk
--
Kirk E. Lowery, Ph.D.
Director, Westminster Hebrew Institute
Adjunct Professor of Old Testament
Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

Theorie ist, wenn man alles weiss und nichts klappt.
Praxis ist, wenn alles klappt und keiner weiss warum.
Bei uns sind Theorie und Praxis vereint:
nichts klappt und keiner weiss warum!