Start 24.10.

docs/index.md

@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ case, it's advisable to install TeXLive.)
 
 | Version | Most relevant changes
 | --- | --- |
-| [24.9](news/whats-new-in-babel-24.8.html) | Transforms: `digits.native`, CJK spacing (tentative). |
+| [24.10](news/whats-new-in-babel-24.10.html) | `\localename`, `mainlocalename`, `babelhyphenmins` |
+| [24.9](news/whats-new-in-babel-24.9.html) | Transforms: `digits.native`, CJK spacing (tentative). |
 | [24.8](news/whats-new-in-babel-24.8.html) | `\BabelWrapText` and hook `foreign`. |
 | [24.7](news/whats-new-in-babel-24.7.html) | Improved a few locales: Filipino, Geez, etc. |
 | [24.6](news/whats-new-in-babel-24.6.html) | Improved transforms: `kern`, `norule`, `after`. |

docs/news/whats-new-in-babel-24.10.md

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# What's new in babel 24.10
+
+**Draft**
+
+## `\localename`, `\mainlocalename`
+
+Consider the following document:
+```tex
+\documentclass{article}
+\usepackage[english]{babel}
+\let\savelanguage\languagename
+\begin{document}
+\savelanguage$=$\languagename?
+\ifx\savelanguage\languagename True\else False!?!?\fi
+\end{document}
+```
+Is ‘english’ not the same as ‘english’? As explained in the manual,
+there was a bug in `babel` which messed up catcodes. No alternative was
+provided, but now there is one: `\localename`. This name follows
+the new paradigm in `babel`, based on the concept of ‘locale’.
+
+In addition, there is a new macro named `\mainlocalename`, with the
+name of the main language.
+
+## `\babelhyphenmins`
+
+(Under development.)
+
+```tex
+\babelhyphenmins*[<language-list>]{<left>}{<right>}[<hyphenationmin>]
+```
+
+The rationale behind this new command is the following: hyphenmins are
+very often a stylistic choice. There are in fact three possible
+sets of values, which I’m going to illustrate with Spanish:
+
+* A technical limit imposed by the patterns, especially when they have
+  been generated with `patgen`. This limit in Spanish is 1/1, because it
+  includes patterns like `4b. .b2`. Sadly, this limit is often unknown
+  or has been lost.
+* The ‘traditional’ limit marked by typographical conventions in each
+  country (very likely the same language). Note sometimes there is not
+  a single convention even in the same country. In Spanish it’s 2/2.
+* The layout. If the text is wide, you can decide to raise the value
+  to 2/3 or even 3/3.
+
+Now, consider a document written in English with some words in other
+languages with lower values (in Greek it’s 1/1!). This will lead to
+undesired typographical inconsistencies.
+
+This explains why the language is optional. 
+
+The starred version not only adjust the settings in the locales, but
+also sets them at once.
+
+In other words, hyphenmins are language dependent only to some extent,
+and having a command to deal with them in a more general way can be
+useful.
+
+It’s worth noting `\hyphenationmin` is language dependent in the TeX
+sense (it depends, globally, on the current `\language`), while
+`\righthyphenmin` and `\lefthyphenmin` are not (they depend only on the
+group). With this command its value can be unified in the whole
+document.
+
+
+
+