[JDEV] HTML Mail

[Michael Brown]

----- Original Message -----
> On Sun, Jun 15, 2003 at 08:44:08PM +1000, Michael Brown wrote:
> > Anyway. surely you can configure Mailman to strip HTML if it really
> > bothers you.  HTML mail is just as much as a standard as ASCII I would
> > have thought - if your mail reader can't deal with it, maybe it is
> > time to upgrade, rather than demanding everyone else reconfigure their
> > clients.
>
> HTML e-mail is *far* from a standard.  There are several reason not to
> use it not a single reason to use it.  HTML e-mail bloats the size of
> any message to at lease double (unless you send HTML only, which is even
> worse).

The bandwidth used is only a waste if you don't like the feature.
Everything on the internet "wastes" bandwidth in someones opinion, it's just
a matter of benifits outweighing the bandwidth usage.  Jabber is a prime
example of this since it sends everything in "bloated" XML - but in my
opinion the trade off is worth it.

> Beyond that it is very prevalent mechanism for spread viruses
> and other malignant items.

True.  Same can be said about the web.

> There is no good reason to use HTML in
> e-mail.  Anything and everything that can be conveyed in an HTML e-mail
> can be conveyed in plain-text and other formats as well if not better.

That is obviously complete crap.  If that was true the web would use ASCII.

This is getting way off topic - so this will be my last post on the topic.
Just to reiterate, I'm not advocating that HTML mail on the list is a good
idea (notice I always send ASCII messages when I remember), I was just
taking issue with the unfriendly tone in which it was communicated, and I
can't see any good reason why HTML can't be filtered by mailman (see FAQ #5
http://www.list.org/faq.html) so that people don't have to reconfigure their
email client because of Peters preferences.

> > After all "change clients" is the only response I got when I was
> > trying to figure out how to stop Outlook Express displaying mail from
> > whatever-cursed-client sends all those PGP messages to the list that
> > show up as .txt file attachments.  (If I want to read them I have to
> > open each one up in Notepad...)
>
> That is a flaw in Outlook Express, not with the message being sent.
> This is a cause of comparing Apples and Oranges.

Be that as it may - thanks Andrew and others (Rachel) I can now read your
posts without having to go into Notepad!

Michael.