Mail Archives: cygwin/2003/04/10/16:25:51
> From: cygwin-owner AT cygwin DOT com [mailto:cygwin-owner AT cygwin DOT com]On Behalf
> Of Randall R Schulz
> > May I ask those of you who insist in posting in HTML format to
> reconsider!
> > a) You're a SERIOUS virus security risk!
>
> No. The risk is to users of particular mail clients. In fact, the
> problem exists in only one such client, as far as I know.
Wrong; At least two, MS Outlook and Outlook Express.
Service packs just disable functionality as it seems - the problems remain.
> > b) You're polluting email
>
> Poppycock.
Heh...
> HTML is a legitimate form of information presentation.
True... it doesn't belong in email and news though.
> It is
> the lingua franca of the worldwide web and it is widely supported by
> GUI mail and news clients. Personal communications must extend beyond
> simple text without stylistic variation for computers to fully
> facilitate human communication.
Then let it stay where it belongs; On the web.
I bet you can find a lot of usenet and mailing list FAQs, netiquette stuff
(and so on) about the issue stating the same that I'm trying to tell you.
> > c) Attached images add an unnecessary burden on email downloads
>
> Burden? On whom? If the poster feels the need to communicate visually,
> then it is their prerogative.
I could have put it the other way: Think about server burden; If every
posting on this list would contain one image[1] the server would have a very
mush greater load. The time spent on sending out the messages would
increase. The time spent on downloading those images would increase.
That is for ONE recipient - now multiply the above by the number of
subscribers on the list. Do the above for ALL the lists and sum it up.
NOW; Where do you end up?
IMO: "Attached images add an unnecessary burden on email downloads"
[1]
Image size currently isn't that bulky. But I do believe it would increase
with time especially as the digital camera market develops. Today you can
buy a 2 megapixel camera at a reasonable price, those images can be as large
as 800KB each. Tomorrows cameras will create larger (jpg) images than that.
I assure you all graphics will increase in quality, that increase will be
seen here as larger attachments - if it is allowed. My bet is that there
will be some time before the e.g. inter-atlantic cables/satellite links will
swallow this without trouble. (You do know that the satellite links are
expensive and comparatively slow, don't you? Your HTML attachments *will*
have impact here.)
> >Offending software:
> > AFAIK only MICROSOFT Outlook and Outlook Express has this enabled by
> >default; SHAME ON YOU M.S!
>
> Again, this is BS.
The BS comes from MS, I have spent hours at my friends computers removing
viruses and analyzing problems caused by HTML postings w malicious content.
None of it would have been necessary without HTML and the automatic display
settings of the above software packages.
> I use Eudora for mail and Mozilla (and before it
> Netscape) for news, and they all send HTML mail and images without a
> problem.
I've said nothing about problems _sending_ - the problems appear at the
receiving end.
> You can configure the default message format and have it
> pester you before you try to send other than plain text.
You're missing the point again, se above.
> Likewise, both
> Mozilla and Netscape allow you to disable JavaScript in mail and news.
Ok, how do you do that in Outlook (express)? :-/
Just because YOU can do it, you don't have to assume everyone can.
> Please don't be so atavistic.
Once again a word that I don't know the meaning of, neither does my
dictionary.
> By definition everyone using Cygwin is
> using an operating system whose GUI subsystem is not optional. It is
> unreasonable to demand that corespondents here restrict themselves to
> plain text.
Hmm... I don't get it. What does you OS and GUI have to do with plain text
email format?
Plain text has been used in usenet groups, mailing lists, chat forums (IRC)
and such for ages. People succesfully discuss a lot of things in plain text
format. I see no restriction here.
/Hannu E K Nevalainen, Mariefred, Sweden
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