In German you can write 'ss' for 'ß'. So 'spaß' (fun) becomes 'spass' . And the 'e' can be used to encode a diaeresis. For example 'spät' (late) becomes spaet'

In German you can write 'ss' for 'ß'. So 'spaß' (fun) becomes 'spass' . And the 'e' can be used to encode a diaeresis. For example 'spät' (late) becomes spaet'. It makes sense to apply this encoding for filenames, since not all software may support Unicode filenames. The file may one day be transfered to anorher OS, etc.