Hi,

I wonder why all fields in the MySQL database which hold text are implemented as binary data (blobs, mediumblobs etc.). MediaWiki expects to read/write them in utf8.

It may be Ok for MediaWiki, but it is VERY inconvenient when it comes to accessing the data from other tools.

I've managed to recreate my db just by replacing all `blob' occurences by `text'. My wiki operates still the same, by now I can read Russian text in db with any tool.

Regards,

Vladimir