# How to send utf8 data to remote computer in ruby 1.9.2 **URL:** \ **Category:** ruby-talk\ **Created:** [17 August 2011 17:54 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/how-to-send-utf8-data-to-remote-computer-in-ruby-1-9-2/63364 "2011-08-17T17:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alexey\_Petrushin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@Alexey\_Petrushin](https://rubytalk.org/u/Alexey_Petrushin)\ **Post date:** [17 August 2011 17:54 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/how-to-send-utf8-data-to-remote-computer-in-ruby-1-9-2/63364/1 "2011-08-17T17:54:07Z")
I believe that's not the right way to solve problems of 1% by introducing problems to 99% of everyone else. Why not make the utf-8 default and other encoding possible? > **···** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Gavin\_Kistner4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@Gavin\_Kistner4](https://rubytalk.org/u/Gavin_Kistner4)\ **Post date:** [17 August 2011 19:15 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/how-to-send-utf8-data-to-remote-computer-in-ruby-1-9-2/63364/2 "2011-08-17T19:15:50Z")
That sounds like a good argument. Except…from where do you get your 1% number? Japan is roughly 2% of the world population, but likely a huge portion of Ruby users. > **···** > > On Aug 17, 2011, at 11:54 AM, Alexey Petrushin \ wrote: > > > I believe that's not the right way to solve problems of 1% by > > introducing problems to 99% of everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![11142](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/e0b2c6/32.png) [@11142](https://rubytalk.org/u/11142)\ **Post date:** [17 August 2011 19:55 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/how-to-send-utf8-data-to-remote-computer-in-ruby-1-9-2/63364/3 "2011-08-17T19:55:06Z")
I did some googling and turns out I was right. Here's an article I found: [Ruby 1.9 Encodings: A Primer and the Solution for Rails](http://yehudakatz.com/2010/05/05/ruby-1-9-encodings-a-primer-and-the-solution-for-rails/) - let me cite the relevant part: > Other languages, such as Java and Python, solve this problem by encodeing every String that enters the language as UTF-8 (or UTF-16). [...] > > However, this solution does not work very well for the Japanese community. For a variety of complicated reasons, Japanese encoding, such as SHIFT-JIS, are not considered to losslessly encode into UTF-8. As a result, Ruby has a policy of not attempting to simply encode any inbound String into UTF-8. The article itself is actually a pretty interesting read. Also, Alexey, that 1% you pulled out of nowhere is certainly wrong. Just look at, say, the official Ruby language issues tracker - [Issues - Ruby Issue Tracking System](http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/) - and count issues written in Japanese, or by Japanese people. There aren't many here, since this is an English-language list. -- Matma Rex ---
**Author:** ![Brian\_Candler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Brian\_Candler](https://rubytalk.org/u/Brian_Candler)\ **Post date:** [18 August 2011 15:17 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/how-to-send-utf8-data-to-remote-computer-in-ruby-1-9-2/63364/4 "2011-08-18T15:17:44Z")
Bartosz Dziewoński wrote in post #1017168: > - let me cite the relevant part: > > > Other languages, such as Java and Python, solve this problem by encodeing every > > String that enters the language as UTF-8 (or UTF-16). [...] > > > However, this solution does not work very well for the Japanese community. For a > variety of complicated reasons, Japanese encoding, such as SHIFT-JIS, > are not > considered to losslessly encode into UTF-8. As a result, Ruby has a > policy of not > attempting to simply encode any inbound String into UTF-8. Except that even ruby 1.9 cannot handle SHIFT-JIS (it's a stateful encoding) > **···** > > -- > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/\](http://www.ruby-forum.com/%5C).