de_DE has been using the wrong group separator for over 18 years

de_DE has been using the wrong group separator for over 18 years

[kdex]

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I have noticed that the locale `de_DE` has erroneously been using a full stop 
(U+002E) for the thousands (group) separator in `mon_thousands_sep` and 
`thousands_sep` ever since 2000. The usage of a full stop to group thousands 
has (to my knowledge) has never been standardized.

As per DIN 1333, DIN 5008, and DIN EN ISO 80000, the separator should have 
been a thin space (U+2009).

In fact, DIN 1333 even explicitly forbids the usage of U+002E to group 
thousands, and DIN EN ISO 80000 explicitly excludes all other characters than 
a thin space.

Has anyone noticed this before? I fear that this change might break a lot of 
code that relies on the separator being wrong. Yet, this really should be 
fixed…

What's the best way to deal with this?

For further information, please also refer to the relevant section on 
Wikipedia at [1] (German).

[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Zifferngruppierung#Zur_Problematik_von_Punkt_und_Komma_f%C3%BCr_Tausender-
_und_Dezimaltrennzeichen

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Re: de_DE has been using the wrong group separator for over 18 years

[Carlos O'Donell]

On 04/17/2018 01:40 PM, kdex wrote:
> I have noticed that the locale `de_DE` has erroneously been using a full stop 
> (U+002E) for the thousands (group) separator in `mon_thousands_sep` and 
> `thousands_sep` ever since 2000. The usage of a full stop to group thousands 
> has (to my knowledge) has never been standardized.
> 
> As per DIN 1333, DIN 5008, and DIN EN ISO 80000, the separator should have 
> been a thin space (U+2009).
> 
> In fact, DIN 1333 even explicitly forbids the usage of U+002E to group 
> thousands, and DIN EN ISO 80000 explicitly excludes all other characters than 
> a thin space.
> 
> Has anyone noticed this before? I fear that this change might break a lot of 
> code that relies on the separator being wrong. Yet, this really should be 
> fixed…
> 
> What's the best way to deal with this?

Gather consensus among the senior developers who speak German and might have
some context here. 

You can do that by posting to libc-alpha@sourceware.org and asking for input.

-- 
Cheers,
Carlos.