Excerpts from bulk.interesting.mildly: 18-Feb-98 Re: overdefining
text/plain? Chris Newman(_at_)innosoft(_dot_)co (2358*)
Perhaps it would be better to put such hints in a parameter instead.
Define a "wrap" parameter, with values of "please" and "nothankyou" or
something. This would have the advantage of not running afoul of mailers
that choke on text/anything-they-dont-know-about.
Such mailers violate RFC 2049, so I'm inclined to ignore them. Nor am I
sure there's an option to add a parameter to a standards track media type
without resetting it to proposed.
I really don't think there's a problem with defining a new parameter, as
long as the default is defined in such a way that the absence of such a
parameter yields the current text/plain semantics.
I see some appeal in adding parameters to text/plain, on the assumption
that they may all be ignored by many mail readers. But I also know that
many systems can be customized/extended by subtypes, but not by
parameters. (Metamail, for the record, can work either way.) So I
don't see any truly compelling argument one way or the other.....
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In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they
should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high. -- Thoreau
Nathaniel Borenstein <nsb(_at_)fv(_dot_)com> | FAQ & PGP key:
Chief Scientist, First Virtual Holdings |
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