Proposed POSIX locale changes for fi_FI

[Jyrki Kuoppala]

(also sent to <address@hidden>, Ulrich Drepper <address@hidden>
as listed in localedata README) 

Here's a proposal for changing the fi_FI locale date formats to
something which is recommended by the Finnish language office and
commonly used in Finland.

Current format:

$ date  
to maalis  8 14:51:33 EET 2001
$ date +%x  
08.03.2001
$ date +%c
to  8 maaliskuu 2001 14:51:37

Proposed zero-padded format:

$ date
to 08.03.2001 14:49:52 
$ date +%x
08.03.2001
$ date +%c
torstai 8. maaliskuuta 2001 14:50:04

Alternative: Proposed non-zero-padded format:

$ date
to 8.3.2001 14:54:31 
$ date +%x
8.3.2001
$ date +%c
torstai 8. maaliskuuta 2001 14:54:35

Rationale:

1) date(1) default format

"to maalis 8" is not correct Finnish usage.  Assuming a relatively
short format, "to 8.3.2001 14:54:31" is what would be expected.

2) strftime %x format

ok otherwise, but zero-padding is not the normal usage.

3) strftime %c format

"to  8 maaliskuu 2001 14:51:37" is not grammatically correct;
the correct usage is "torstai 8. maaliskuuta 2001 14:50:04".
Zero-padding or space-padding is not necessary, as the
lenght of the strings varies in either case.

4) zero-padding vs. no zero-padding

The common way to write dates is the non-zero-padded format, like
'8.3.2001'.  However, if one wants to keep the length of the output of
strftime(%x) or date(1) language default format constant (to preserve
possible fixed-width font column formatting), then one should use the
zero-padded format.

------------------------------
Proposed patch for %c and default date format change:

*** fi_FI-debian-orig   Fri Feb 16 21:14:13 2001
--- fi_FI-zeropadded    Thu Mar  8 14:42:08 2001
***************
*** 2179,2192 ****
           "<U006C><U006F><U006B><U0061><U006B><U0075><U0075>";/
           "<U006D><U0061><U0072><U0072><U0061><U0073><U006B><U0075><U0075>";/
           "<U006A><U006F><U0075><U006C><U0075><U006B><U0075><U0075>"
! d_t_fmt  
"<U0025><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0065><U0020><U0025><U0042><U0020><U0025><U0059><U0020><U0025><U0054>"
  d_fmt    "<U0025><U0064><U002E><U0025><U006D><U002E><U0025><U0059>"
  t_fmt    "<U0025><U0054>"
  am_pm    "";""
  t_fmt_ampm  ""
! date_fmt       "<U0025><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0062><U0020><U0025><U0065>/
! <U0020><U0025><U0048><U003A><U0025><U004D><U003A><U0025><U0053><U0020>/
! <U0025><U005A><U0020><U0025><U0059>"
  END LC_TIME
  
  LC_MESSAGES
--- 2179,2191 ----
           "<U006C><U006F><U006B><U0061><U006B><U0075><U0075>";/
           "<U006D><U0061><U0072><U0072><U0061><U0073><U006B><U0075><U0075>";/
           "<U006A><U006F><U0075><U006C><U0075><U006B><U0075><U0075>"
! d_t_fmt  
"<U0025><U0041><U0020><U0025><U002D><U0064><U002E><U0020><U0025><U0042><U0074><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0059><U0020><U0025><U0054>"
  d_fmt    "<U0025><U0064><U002E><U0025><U006D><U002E><U0025><U0059>"
  t_fmt    "<U0025><U0054>"
  am_pm    "";""
  t_fmt_ampm  ""
! date_fmt       
"<U0025><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0064><U002E><U0025><U006d><U002E><U0025><U0059>/
! <U0020><U0025><U0048><U003A><U0025><U004D><U003A><U0025><U0053><U0020>"
  END LC_TIME
  
  LC_MESSAGES
------------------------------
Proposed patch for deleting zero-padding:

*** fi_FI-zeropadded    Thu Mar  8 14:42:08 2001
--- fi_FI-non-zeropadded        Thu Mar  8 14:24:05 2001
***************
*** 2180,2190 ****
           "<U006D><U0061><U0072><U0072><U0061><U0073><U006B><U0075><U0075>";/
           "<U006A><U006F><U0075><U006C><U0075><U006B><U0075><U0075>"
  d_t_fmt  
"<U0025><U0041><U0020><U0025><U002D><U0064><U002E><U0020><U0025><U0042><U0074><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0059><U0020><U0025><U0054>"
! d_fmt    "<U0025><U0064><U002E><U0025><U006D><U002E><U0025><U0059>"
  t_fmt    "<U0025><U0054>"
  am_pm    "";""
  t_fmt_ampm  ""
! date_fmt       
"<U0025><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0064><U002E><U0025><U006d><U002E><U0025><U0059>/
  <U0020><U0025><U0048><U003A><U0025><U004D><U003A><U0025><U0053><U0020>"
  END LC_TIME
  
--- 2180,2190 ----
           "<U006D><U0061><U0072><U0072><U0061><U0073><U006B><U0075><U0075>";/
           "<U006A><U006F><U0075><U006C><U0075><U006B><U0075><U0075>"
  d_t_fmt  
"<U0025><U0041><U0020><U0025><U002D><U0064><U002E><U0020><U0025><U0042><U0074><U0061><U0020><U0025><U0059><U0020><U0025><U0054>"
! d_fmt    
"<U0025><U002D><U0064><U002E><U0025><U002D><U006D><U002E><U0025><U0059>"
  t_fmt    "<U0025><U0054>"
  am_pm    "";""
  t_fmt_ampm  ""
! date_fmt       
"<U0025><U0061><U0020><U0025><U002D><U0064><U002E><U0025><U002D><U006d><U002E><U0025><U0059>/
  <U0020><U0025><U0048><U003A><U0025><U004D><U003A><U0025><U0053><U0020>"
  END LC_TIME
  
Jyrki Kuoppala, address@hidden
Katto-Meny OK, Tallberginkatu 1B/39, 00180 Helsinki