[techtalk] No HTML/RTF messages, please!

[Telsa Gwynne]

On Mon, Nov 29, 1999 at 05:55:06PM -0500 or thereabouts, Steve Kudlak wrote:
> > On 28 Nov 1999 Steve wrote:
> > >Ask first!! Then if person accepts, then send HTML. I can read it and 
> > >I WANT IT!! This is especially important to friend invitations. I want
> > >HTML. Plain Text is a pain. 

Steve, please install Linux or *BSD, and read some MIME messages in elm;
or go to a local LUG and ask someone to bring that program up on a 
MIME email. Then ask them to show you metamail. Then, really, honestly,
truly, you'll realise why I find that "Plain Text is a pain" sentence 
quite unbelievable. Essentially: your pretty text is my illegible
screen (whem I am using elm, which I have to do on one machine).

> > >Just ask first,  and if they say yes. Let's stop trying to force 
> > > nettiqueete down people's throats!!! 

Yeah, quick, let's rescind RFC 1855! (If you've never seen it, you
might want to check out http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html first.
I realise that it's informational rather than a standard, but RFCs
are generally created for a reason... (other than April 1st).

> > >It is Hitler  like...It is not just to ask, and then send.

Checking for incoming email...
Checking for rfc-compatible environment...
Checking for Usenet-triggers...
Warning: Godwin invocation detected! Thread may be unreadable.

> I am sorry I don't want to argue about these things. 

I really badly want to reply to some of this, but my examples of
why those guidelines are 'nice' rather than authoritarian are
probably off-topic for techtalk. But the short version is: I have 
run a mailing list for a few years now. We have all of Linuxchix's 
guidelines (we call them rules, though :)) and a few more. I think
-all- of them were adopted by popular request. They make people
happy.

I am going to pretend that mentioning Godwin (if it makes no
sense, try putting "Godwin's Law" into your favourite search
engine or the jargon file) and an RFC makes this techtalk 
material, but since the grrltalk digest appears to have an 
inordinate quantity of discussion on this too, feel free to 
converge threads over on grrltalk.

Telsa

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