Re: [cobalt-users] Global CGI

[Kris Dahl <krislists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 6/20/00 11:21 AM, Gregory Galant at galant@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Sorry about that. I didn't know that was a guideline, nor did I pay
> attention to what mode I was sending in.

Apology not necessary.  Normally most people just ignore HTML posts.  I was
just pointing out why no one was responding to your question.  Its important
to pay attention to general usenet/mailing list guidelines/etiquette when
posting, especially if you are soliciting help.

> I'm just curious, what difference does it make? I assume everyone here has
> an up-to-date e-mail client.

I will explain.

1) Efficiency/Size: Your request should have taken ~ 500 bytes if posted in
ASCII.  It ended up taking 3000.  Roughly 6 times the size.  Additionally,
the 'formatting' did not aid in anything (did not make it more readable,
etc.) except increase the size of the document.
2) Compatibility: Not everyone has an 'up-to-date-client' or rather a client
that has HTML email support.  Many clients are up to date and choose not to
support it.  Pine for example.
3) Obfuscation: Markup can obscure the message.  I should send a screen cap
of what you message looks like on my monitors.  I run at 1600x1200 and
1280x1024.  Honestly the fixed size HTML text is barely readable.
4) Quoting: HTML markup in messages can make quoting very difficult.

and most important

5) Exclusivity: By posting with plain ASCII, you essentially 'pass the
test'. That is you have proven yourself to be aware of the technical aspects
of global, cross-platform, cross-client communication.  And hence may have
something worth-while to contribute.

For further discussion on the proper formatting of posts, please search for
"HTML email" and "list guidelines" in the archive.  Should come up with a
few hits.

-k