RE: base32 alphabet rant - rhaaaaa rfc3548

["Christian Huitema" <huitema@windows.microsoft.com>]

> I'll check with the SASL WG if they wish to continue using the A-Z2-7
> alphabet for the GSS-API mechanism document.  If not, I think we
> should make the 0-9A-V alphabet the default alphabet.

If we change the alphabet, we should consider a somewhat more
sophisticated solution than 0-9A-V, in order to avoid name collisions
and letter confusion.

Name collision is a classic problem with literal representation of
binary numbers. You can inadvertently obtain a string of letters that
include dictionary words, some of which can be offensive. A simple way
to minimize the problem is to avoid commonly used vowels.

Letter confusion occurs when people have to copy or type in labels. For
example, there is a significant risk of confusing the number 0 and the
letter O, the number 1 and the letter I or the lower case letter l.

The set 0-9A-Z includes 36 code points. The 0-9A-V solution just drops
the last letters in sequence, WXYZ. It may be more productive to remove
the letters A (vowel), E (vowel),  I (vowel, confusion with number 1)
and O (vowel, confusion with number 0).

-- Christian Huitema

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