What is unicode character 2028 (LS / Line Separator) used for?

I was thinking to myself that the line breaking problem must be somewhat solved by someone, but maybe not widely adopted. Being forward thinking, I went to search to see if there was a platform independent unicode method to separate lines. In my search I found unicode character 2028. Then, I found Jeff Atwoods post on this topic where he mentions that he's "...not sure under what circumstances you would want those Unicode newline markers."

Well, me too. I did a little digging in the C# source code and it looks li开发者_开发知识库ke LS (x2028) is not supported by TextReader.ReadLine() and it is also not supported in Java's BufferedReader.ReadLine(). So, my conclusion is that it is not widely supported.

I would love to have a bright future where I can write files using a single format in Linux, MacOS and Windows. Does this little character have promise? What is it currently used for?

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Nicked from McDowell’s comment on the same page, and indirectly from the Unicode docs:

Traditionally, NLF started out as a line separator (and sometimes record separator). It is still used as a line separator in simple text editors such as program editors. As platforms and programs started to handle word processing with automatic line-wrap, these characters were reinterpreted to stand for paragraph separators. For example, even such simple programs as the Windows Notepad program and the Mac SimpleText program interpret their platform’s NLF as a paragraph separator, not a line separator.

NLF (New Line Function) in this context is shorthand for CR, LF and CRLF. By contrast, the two Unicode characters have unambiguous uses.

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Per the Unicode Newline Guidelines, U+2029 paragraph separator (PS) unambiguously indicates an intent to separate paragraphs. U+2028 line separator (LS) does likewise for lines. The other newline function characters, LF, CR, CR+LF, and NEL, are ambiguous, with their meanings dependent on platform and application.

For example, a LF might separate paragraphs in a word processing application but only lines in a simple text editor. By contrast, PS always separates paragraphs, regardless of the type of application.