[rescue] Slightly OT: Bad Cap Saga

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: der Mouse <mouse at Rodents-Montreal.ORG>
>Date: 2008/08/18 Mon PM 08:56:43 EDT
>To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [rescue] Slightly OT:  Bad Cap Saga

>> I let your mail client format the mail you read, if you have a mail
>> window that is 132 columns wide, you should see my posts in all [its]
>> glorious 132 columns...
>
>> I don't press "enter" when my cursour hits the end of the screen - I
>> haven't doen that since I stopped using a manual typewritter ;^)
>
>And it shows.

Thank you.

>You might want to consider readability a bit more.

I do, and I decided on this format because it presents the most intelligible 
formatting for various "well-behaved" email clients.

I did not read the 20 page RFC you mentioned, though I did scan it, and my 
reason for choosing this format is displayed on page four, where several lines 
of wide (78 character lines terminated with CR/LF) are displayed in a mangled 
fashion. The "super long" lines display in a manner most readable on most 
clients. Just as I can choose a different format, you can choose a different 
client (or a different configuration for your choosen client).

>I knwo I find it substantially more difficult to read text which uses
>paragraph-sized lines and wraps haphazardly in the middles of words
>(which is how it ends up for me, unless I take special action) as
>compared to text which follows the recommendations in the standards.

Which standards body ratified the RFC you linked to? It is more of a 
convention than a standard.

>There is a standard for how to write text and let mail clients re-wrap
>it - and it takes readability in non-aware clients into account.  You
>might want to have a look at it; it's RFC 3676.

As I said, at 20 pages long, I'll trust it is well thought-out, and includes 
an excruciating amount of detail on areas I'll likely never have to bother 
with.

>Or, of course, you could go on doing what you're doing now, and have
>your messages junked after about a line and a half by people like me
>who figure that if it wasn't worth putting a little effort into to make
>it readable, it's probably not worth reading.

I did put thought into it - you happen to not agree with my conclusion.

>Oh, and I don't press enter either when typing running text.  The text
>editor I use for email composition inserts the line breaks for me, and
>has been doing so for some 20-plus years (or at least has been capable
>of doing so; I forget when I first set up that particular bit of
>configuration, but I know the capability has been there that long).

I see little difference between my actually pressing enter at the end of the 
line or having my editor do it for me. The actual pressing of the key was just 
a humorous aside.

Inserting line breaks imposes a format on the message, I defer to your email 
client to present my emails to you in a way that suits your tastes.

I'm sorry my email format prevents you from enjoying the fruits of my random 
key presses.

Lionel