Re: Posting netiquette: HTML, attachments etc.

From: Warner Losh <imp_at_bsdimp.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2022 18:32:41 UTC
On Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 12:20 PM Walter Parker <walterp@gmail.com> wrote:

> So, utf-8 is good, posting to multiple lists is bad (but ok when you do
> it), what about the original post? He was asking about HTML. UTF-8 != HTML.
> UTF is a character encoding format. It is supported by most email clients
> and does not require HTML for support.
>

Html is fine as well. Most modern mail platforms generate it for you,
whether you want them too or not. Most of the advice in appendix c is dated
and doesn't really match what people do on the lists. Phones and web based
Gmail are to large a presence to ignore or have policies against. I stopped
listening to complaints about how Gmail or my phone formatted posts 5 years
ago... and I'm definitely an old school straggler...

Warner


> Walter
>
> On Sun, Jun 26, 2022 at 2:56 AM Michael Gmelin <grembo@freebsd.org> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On 26. Jun 2022, at 09:37, grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>>
>> https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/handbook/eresources/_index.adoc
>>
>>
>> FreeBSD Handbook: Appendix C: updates and corrections
>>
>> https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=264754
>>
>>
>> I'm glad that HTML is supported.
>>
>>
>> No, people should not be sending HTML emails to lists.
>> Consult history of email netiquettes to discover the many why's.
>>
>> Also, I want support for things such as PNG.
>>
>>
>> Attachments are not necessarily against such netiquettes,
>> but rightly tend to be administratively size limited.
>>
>> What is the possibility of getting the/a "netiquette" link in
>>
>> the FreeBSD Mailinglist footer that is already appended to all
>>
>> the messages?
>>
>>
>> There is no such footer appended to the lists, because they're bloat.
>> Their aims usually better done at first via signup, in quarterly, and
>> via the occaisional involuntary and accepted friendly cluebat.
>>
>>
>> we are dealing with real people working with the email
>>
>> clients available to them in 2022
>>
>>
>> Same arguments was made in 1982 1992 2002 etc, and the netiquette
>> won validity for good reasons and is still taught trained and disciplined.
>>
>>
>> Trying to stop people from using UTF-8 is futile. Also, quoting various
>> arguments from different people without context is bad style - I gave very
>> specific examples, including the fact that a lot of email is written on
>> mobile devices where people don’t have control over many aspects of how
>> things are sent and I argued which parts of netiquette could/should still
>> be followed given the realities of today and where we need to relax if we
>> want to have communication happen on our mailing lists.
>>
>> My answer here is an example of that - there is no reasonable way to
>> follow any line length limits on a phone and it also automatically chooses
>> the typographically correct UTF-8 characters, even though I would prefer to
>> use ASCII - but there is no way I’ll change every single "‘" to "'"
>> manually or disable the features that make typing on such a device an
>> acceptable experience. Just won’t happen.
>>
>> If your email client and/or your desktop can’t handle UTF-8, it’s time to
>> fix your setup.
>>
>> -m
>>
>> p.s. Is it really necessary to have this discussion on multiple lists?
>>
>>
>
> --
> The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of
> zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.   -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis
>