HTML/Mime'd postings

["D. Emilio Grimaldo Tunon" <emilio_tunon nl compuware com>]

Hi *,
    Just ran into this message (pasted here) on the other RH list.
I quite agree with it as I have noticed some people in this list
also post in text/plain+text/html or MIMEd messages. Many of those
messages would spawn an external viewer (with horrible font) on
my HP-UX elm, others simply would not show anything, therefore
rendered unreadable. So, maybe we should take a better look at
this message [I did not write it] and do something about it:

******** BEGIN OF FORWARDED MESSAGE ********
On Tue, 18 Aug 1998, Mark R. Bowyer wrote:

> *Actually*, the point is that email to lists should *not* be
> sent in HTML format, as you and she are both doing.

Correct.  IMHO, HTML should stay on webpages where it belongs.

> It means that those on modem connections have to download your
> message twice, plus the added noise added by the HTML tags and
> the MIME stuff to split them up.  This is adds up to people
> paying more for you sending a message that looks nice.

It looks like shit in PINE.

> It also means that some people, using other mail readers, don't
> even get to see you message, in which case they delete it, and
> you may have missed the guy who is best positioned to answer
> your question. 

My point exactly.  I try and help a lot of people on this list,
as most of you are aware, and I don't use Microsoft shit to read
my email, nor do I use Netscape to read email.  This is a Linux
list, and IMHO HTML shit is not necessary.  Anyone posting
adamantly in HTML, should either take a hike, or be prepared to
not get any answers.
 
> Most everyone on this list will *not* be reading email in an
> HTML aware reader.  So they'll either see your text with an
> HTML attachment, or an empty mail with 2 or 3 attachments
> (depends on the sending application and the reading
> application).  Me, I'm reading this using dtmail on a Sun
> Ultra10, and I can read you text, and double click your
> attachment to read it again in a nice font. 

I am using PINE, and I get 2 attachments, one text, one HTML.  I
can read the TEXT one, but I have to go out of my way to do so,
something I'm not prepared to do when someone has unnecessarily
included 2 copies of their message, and made both difficult to
read in my reader.  It is common sense to not post HTML messages
to mailing lists.  Some people nonetheless don't abide by common
sense.

> Complaining about the font she used in her HTML, and doing so
> *in* HTML, on a text-only email list, is about as
> missing-the-point as you can get without asking her if she's
> been saved yet. 

Perhaps everyone would get the point if I responded to their HTML
messages with SGML replies... Or Postscript replies.  Does anyone
have a good HTML to postscript converter?

There is an importance to a "standard" way of doing things.  My
above paragraph illustrates it clearly IMHO.

> Please people, don't take this or any of the other emails on
> this as personal attacks.

Or do... maybe you'll learn a valuable lesson.

The only thing that frustrates me more than receiving an HTML
message, is receiving one from someone adamant and obnoxious
enough to not stop doing it.  I think it would be nice if RedHat
would auto-unsubscribe any posters posting in HTML, or including
any HTML/GIF/JPEG/VCARD attachments.

> Netiquette, like it's less computerised cousin, is something
> you learn as you go.  Some people get quite het up about people
> not sticking to the "rules", whether it's passing the port to
> the left or sending newsgroup postings not cropped to 72
> characters a line.

(By the way, your lines are right to the 80th column, and I'm
fixing them with CTRL-J in PINE.)  ;o)  <said with humor>  ;o)

> But this being a list mainly consisting of techy types, I'd
> *highly* recommend you go into the Properties/Preferences of
> your tools and fix it so you do not, under any circumstances,
> send to mailing lists or Newsgroups in HTML instead of plain
> old text.  Especially if you're asking for help.  Plain text
> messages will get a wider audience, as has been pointed out.

And HTML will get you killfiled, and/or booted off lists.
 
> And finally, to answer the poor lady's question:

Something that I'm not as kind as you to do, until I get it
reposted in text and see that the poster has disabled HTML
indefinitely... I guess you're nicer than me.  ;o)

[SNIP]

Take care.
TTYL

********* END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE *********

-- 
D. Emilio Grimaldo Tunon       Compuware Europe B.V. (Uniface Lab)
Software Engineer	       Amsterdam, The Netherlands
emilio_tunon@nl.compuware.com  Tel. +31 (0)20 3126 516