In <20030109083713(_dot_)378e2ac9(_dot_)moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
Keith Moore <moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu> writes:
There are many more pieces of software than Usefor gateways which get
stuck because they do not know the correct way to parse some field. The
design flaw was in RFC 2047 which allowed that situation to be gotten into
in the first place.
rfc 2047 doesn't affect how fields are parsed. it only affects how
fields are displayed. if a viewer doesn't realize that a field
is structured and/or doesn't know how it should be parsed, the worst
that should happen is that encoded-words are not decoded before display.
The problem is not so much with software that decodes RFC 2047 (though
even that gets it wrong sometimes), as with software that encodes it in
the first place and which gets stuck as soon as it encounters a header
that it does not know how to parse.
The standard of implementation of RFC 2047 in current software is
exceedingly poor. The reason seems to be that implementors find that doing
it correctly is so burdensome that they decide to cut corners. You would
say that it is all the wicked inplementors' fault. Other would say it
illustrates that it is a bad standard.
The plain fact of the matter is that standards are no use unless the world
can be persuaded that there is benefit to be gained by adhering to them.
Ultimately, it is the world, not the standards making bodies, that
decides.
--
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
Tel: +44 161 436 6131 Fax: +44 161 436 6133 Web: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl
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