Exactly how does Oracle use "Global Attribute" columns

 Exactly how does Oracle use the "Global Attribute" columns?  I've read from several sites that they are used for localization and should not be used for other purposes.  Based on that, I'm guessing that what you do is, if localization is in use at a site, you take whatever value is in attribute1 and convert to the localized language and store it in global_attribute1.  Is that anywhere near accurate?  If not can you describe how those global attributes are used?

We aren't using localization at my site and I'm very tempted to start using those attributes for custom stuff.  I'm looking for a good reason not to use them before I begin looking at alternatives.