At 05:04 AM 2/22/2001, David C Lawrence wrote:
> > Also, why isn't HTML an accepted format for Internet Drafts, pretty
> > much everyone on the planet should be able to read an HTML file (even
> > using Lynx on a terminal)?
>
> and that goes for pdf too, given that the irs uses it too :)
It isn't accepted because flat, plain ASCII text is by far the most
portable format on the planet and beyond. For example, there are
plenty of IETFers who still read the drafts in email, and still use
email clients that don't handle HTML natively.
It is easiest to work with when you are on a "dumb" device. Pretty
much any program that can handle text at all can handle unadorned
ASCII, but HTML can be much more of a nuisance.
Am I the only one that finds a certain bit of irony in the fact that the
last IETF conference provided "peek at the future" style networking - i.e.,
11MB 802.11 wireless throughout the entire hotel, so that people could
literally walk from one end of the hotel to the other with laptop perched
in the crook of one arm while using the other to do e-mail, web browsing
etc... ...AND that these are the same people with archaic browsers and
e-mail clients that can't handle recent advances in technology - even to
the point of using "dumb" devices that can only handle ASCII?
This strikes me a little like the pilot of the space shuttle who still uses
an outhouse at home...
Stephen
Stephen McHenry
VP, Engineering/CTO
Cacheware, Inc.
655 Campbell Technology Pkwy, Suite 150
Campbell, CA 95008
Ph: (408) 540-1270
Fax: (408) 540-1305
e-mail: stephen(_at_)cacheware(_dot_)com
www.cacheware.com