title: Why isn't wchar_t widely used in code for Linux / related platforms?
body: <p>This intrigues me, so I'm going to ask - for what reason is <code>wchar_t</code> not used so widely on Linux/Linux-like systems as it is on Windows? Specifically, the Windows API uses <code>wchar_t</code> internally whereas I believe Linux does not and this is reflected in a number of open source packages using <code>char</code> types.</p>
  
  <p>My understanding is that given a character <code>c</code> which requires multiple bytes to represent it, then in a <code>char[]</code> form <code>c</code> is split over several parts of <code>char*</code> whereas it forms a single unit in <code>wchar_t[]</code>. Is it not easier, then, to use <code>wchar_t</code> always? Have I missed a technical reason that negates this difference? Or is it just an adoption problem?</p>