Re: MIME/HTML mail, was Re: SSH tunneling / X forwarding

From: William Peckham (mrwbp@attbi.com)
Date: 03/30/03 

From: "William Peckham" <mrwbp@attbi.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 16:52:31 GMT

"Richard E. Silverman" <slade@shore.net> wrote in message
news:m1l65q0rgf9.fsf@syrinx.oankali.net...
> >>>>> "amr" == all mail refused <elvis@notatla.demon.co.uk> writes:
>
> amr> All I want from the usenet and email is the ability to read and
> amr> publish written words (ASCII is fine for most English).
>
> Again, English is not the only language on Earth. "Written words" does
> not have to somehow preclude the use of better typography than can be
> obtained with a typewriter. And as for "only" wanting words -- well, for
> example, in this newsgroup, we often see moderately complicated network
> situations, which are best explained using a diagram. Making a quick
> picture and slapping it on a scanner, or drawing it on the computer, and
> including it in my post would aid in understanding. But of course, you'll
> never see it. So I have to go through the silly exercise of trying to
> draw a diagram using ASCII characters, which is like trying to paint with
> Legos.
>
> As Alice said, "It's a poor sort of book that doesn't have any pictures."
>
> (Please, no pointers to Emacs picture-mode or similar dren -- that's not
> the point.)
>
> amr> The same goes for most web traffic although http and ftp are good
> amr> for binaries (and I think ftp should be obsolete). I have no
> amr> scruples about rejecting traffic that doesn't suit me - including
> amr> all mail containing HTML.
>
> amr> I'm realise that 6e9 people don't all have to agree with me.
>
> Do you? Because you aren't just filtering stuff you don't want to see.
> You (or at least, others in this thread) are also publically promulgating
> the point of view that no one should post such material, either.
> Acceptance of that principle denies others the ability to use a wide
> variety of languages, or reasonable forms of visual expression. It's one
> thing to decide that "all you want" from usenet/email is an English-only
> medium, with visual formatting capabilities stunted to a level *worse*
> than before the invention of the computer. It's quite another to also
> decide that everyone else should also be so limited, and try to enforce
> that edict.
>
> --
> Richard Silverman
> slade@shore.net

My friends favorite newsgroup reader for the blind does an excellent job
turning simple text into speech, so that vision impaired members may take
part in the newsgroup productively. Binary, mime, and HTML are not rendered
properly in any useful manner. There are places and media where 'pretty
pictures' and 'pretty text' are part of the purpose, but they exclude all
vision impaired individuals.

Please note that many language translators are also restricted to
translating the simple text.

It seems to me simple courtesy to make all newsgroup traffic that is
intended for the broader audience useable by that audience. I realize that
many members of the newsgroups lack the most elementary understanding of
courtesy, but I am thankful that so many courteous people still do exist in
this community. 

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