Mark Delany wrote:
Besidewhich wont a UI hide the nitty gritty of what bits are set
where?
But you know, whatever. If people want a two-bit solution for a
one-bit problem. That's ok :-)
Well, no, It really isn't.
For example, it leads to multiple ways of doing the same thing, which at least
leads to increased system complexity and often leads to ambiguity, which kills
interoperability.
Besides that, your raising the distinction between the underlying encoding,
versus the way the information is presented to users (including system
administrators) is a a fundamental point. People often confuse the two.
And lastly, when a protocol design tends to treat each item as independent, even
when two or more really are the same (or are mild variations of each other) then
the entire protocol tends to devolve into an mass of special-cased behavior,
rather than having any sort of cohesive framework.
So, no, it really is not ok.
d/
--
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
bbiw.net
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