Subject: Re: ASCII and BINARY files. Why?
From: [email-masked] ("Grant Leslie")

29 Jan 1997 23:18:28 -0800
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> But not if gnu-win32 goes all-binary-all-the-time, correct?
> 
> I agree that if a friend gives you a text file containing CRNL
newline
> sequences, then gnu-win32 tools will preserve those ^Ms.  But
that's no
> different than if you're on a UNIX workstation and someone mails
you
> such a text file or it you download it via HTTP.  UNIX folks have
been
> typing
> 
>	tr -d '\015' <dosfile >unixfile
> 
>ever since PCs began connecting to the net.

However this step seems a touch superfluous if you are already
sitting at a PC, and far from user freindly. If you don't think so
try explaining to the "average" Win95 or WinNT user (ok the WinNT
user might be MUCH easier) why some of there software works fine,
but, if they use this other stuff we made for them that, they need to
go to a "DOS prompt" and type this command before they can use the
file AND have it look right if they intend to use the stuff you
wrote...
After all just because we all write this software, lets not forget
that it's the end user that has to really get the use out what we
make.
It just seems to me to just "accept" this is really missing the whole
point. No matter what the Text/Binary thing MUST be dealt with one
way or another.

>If I didn't know better, I'd say Microsoft has _deprectated_
>the use of CR in text-files.

Now if they had truely done this in say 198? we wouldn't have this
problem at all ;-) 

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