ATTN SELF-STYLED LIST POLICE (was RE: Mr. Day)
Thomas Cameron
thomas.cameron at camerontech.com
Tue Dec 7 07:28:06 UTC 2004
On Tue, 2004-12-07 at 15:06 +0800, Edward wrote:
>
> Thomas Cameron wrote:
>
> > I'm not saying it's fair, I'm certainly not saying it's better - I
> > vastly prefer plain text for e-mail. What I am saying is that it's
> > fact. So why is it that over 90% of the list should change their ways
> > for the 7-8% who voluntarily choose not to handle HTML e-mail?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Thomas
>
> I can't believe I'm adding something again, but here I go...
>
> VASTLY PREFER PLAIN TEXT FOR E-MAIL...
As do I!
> You just said it and a lot of people here think it. Like you I "DEAL"
> with HTML mail on a daily basis. And true, it's an unfortunate fact that
> HTML is the default on most mailers. To me it's bloat and completely
> unnecessary.
Agreed!
> I'm also in agreeance with you - that, like I just said, we're not going
> to get away from it because with nearly all the recent clients, HTML is
> on by default (maybe that's where your 90% comes from?).
It comes from the list statistics that Scot Harris is kind enough to
generate every month: https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/2004-
December/msg01344.html If I'm reading it right, about 7% of the mailers
used to post are text only mailers which might have issues with HTML
mail (mutt, pine, etc.).
> But all I'm saying is that it is not netiquette. I know you don't
> believe in hard and fast rules as per your previous posts (as you
> shouldn't), but it is simply a "Nice thing to do (tm)".
Absolutely! I couldn't agree more. I am a firm believer in netiquette.
But netiquette is the suggested proper behavior - it isn't law. People
who go postal over innocent violations alienate new users. I've seen it
happen. That is bad all the way around.
> So if someone kindly asks for a poster to not use HTML, please don't
> begrudge them that.
I wouldn't - I have absolutely no problem gently educating a new user.
You can look through the archive and see where I have suggested that
posters use plain text, and my .sig for a long time advocated bottom
posting.
> HTML mails are like 10x bigger, and in remote
> Australia dial-up, receiving something like 400 messages a day from this
> list...dude...trust me - she adds up...I've done the math.
I can absolutely understand your pain. I've said before that I prefer
plain text and bottom posting.
> In summary - I do agree with you, and I will continue to deal with it
> without getting upset or anything, but if someone wants to ask someone
> to adhere to netiquette (nicely ofcourse!!!), then they really should be
> allowed to.
Not an ounce of argument from me there. I only took issue with the
blasting of newbies that has become more and more common on this (and
other) lists. We were all newbies once. I embraced Linux because the
Linux community embraced me - in spite of some *really* dumb questions I
asked early on (I was introduced to Linux in 1995). I hate to see
newcomers not get the same amazing support that drew me into this
community. Gentle persuasion is a Good Thing(TM). High-horse snobbery
is bad for the everyone involved - the whole community suffers.
> Regards,
> Ed.
Thanks,
Thomas
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