Because MH lets us arrange things how we want so if decoding was done by
default we'd need a means to get to the raw original version instead,
e.g. I want to scan or pick them based on the raw value. Given decoding
isn't lossless, this suggests both the original and decoded would need
to be kept.
Instead, and rather than apply the negative un-decode, my feeling is the
decode should be explicit. We can provide default configurations that
apply for it new users, much as we are now.
Arrrrrgggghhhh.
I can VAGUELY imagine a situation where you might want to search
undecoded header fields, but I have to believe it is NOT the normal
behavior (also, I think a tool to search undecoded header fields already
exists and it's called grep). How we deal with character set conversion
is going to be "interesting" but I think it is solvable, even for those
few cranks who don't want to switch to a UTF-8 locale.
And it seems one of the lessons from this whole thing (and it's not just
this, it KEEPS COMING UP AGAIN AND AGAIN) is that people don't update
their config files because they put in them in place 20 years ago and
they worked fine, so changing the default templates isn't as helpful as
one would think. Clearly the default should be decoded header fields
unless a user explictly asks for them unencded.
--Ken
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