HTML mail, was: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Linux Distro

[Terry Hancock]

On Monday 10 March 2003 10:22 pm, Kevin E. Ivey wrote:
> > As far as people being rude, some people are terse, as I can be, but I
> > don't think that many people are meaning to be rude.  Also remember that
> > when using email you lose very important things like body language and
> > inflection which help convey a lot of the meaning, so what you may
> > consider rude may have been intended to be a joke, humorous or just a
> > simple statement, but the feeling (or lack of) was lost from one person
> > typing to another person reading.  As far as I know everyone here is
> > here to learn or help others.

While this may be true in general, it was not true of the exchange in 
question.  That was like hearing someone ask you "Donde esta los banos?" and 
responding "Speak English, damn it!"  You could at least tell them where they 
are, first.  Sheesh!  Or you can shrug and let it pass if you really don't 
understand that much Spanish -- maybe somebody else will know.  Definitely 
rude, in any case.

> I try to be helpful and polite when posting to this list.  I consider it 
> rude to send mail to a Linux list from a machine running Outlook.

So either you'd have considered yourself rude when you were a newbie, or you 
somehow managed to configure your whole system without any outside help!  Now 
I switched back when I was using Win 3.1, and I haven't spent much time with 
these later beasts (had to work with Win 95 for awhile at work, which was 
what convinced me to upgrade from Win 3.1 to Debian "Slink" ;-)).  So, using 
Netscape 3 or 4 for Windows, I was probably sending "proper" plain-text email 
even then.

But chances are, if I were switching now, I'd be one of the many clueless 
Outlook users out there.  It's not fair to dump on people just because 
they're new or they haven't "completely converted" yet.  It takes time to 
convert over, especially if you're having to keep up with all your usual 
business on the computer at the same time.  It took me months, despite a high 
level of confidence and determination.

> I have sworn off non-free software and have found ways to make just 
> about everything I need to get done with Linux.

Congrats!   I've been free since about 2000.  Feels good, doesn't it?  Now 
I'm trying to learn how to completely run a business (other than an ISP or 
colo ;-)) while not losing that ideal.  It's not so easy yet, but we're 
getting there. It's a good thing I've had a day job in the meantime, or I 
couldn't afford it.  I figure if I can do it, though, it'll probably push the 
technology along, too.  So I feel good about it, even though I'm sort of 
"doing it the hard way".

> Sitting in front of a networked NT machine at work is cruel abuse and 
> should rank with a civil rights violation.  Sometimes I must log in and 
> perform a few small Linux miracles just to shake it off upon arriving home.

Heh. Yeah, I've lost much of my tolerance for the Windows world.  EULA's make 
me want to puke now -- I can't believe how bad they've gotten. Much worse 
than when I got out of it.

> My Outlook settings on that miserable NT machine allow me to send only 
> plain text to everyone.

Then you probably could offer some constructive advice rather than merely 
being offended.  I know the Windows world doesn't work like that -- they're 
all about abuse and making demands.  But it is the way *we're* supposed to 
work, and this is how we transmit those values.  Perhaps the *most* 
constructive thing would be to post a FAQ on how to do this, and link to it 
with a note like "Please don't post HTML mail on this list"  *along with* a 
constructive response.

Of course, personally, I've never even seen Outlook, much less configured it, 
so I didn't say anything. "If you can't think of anything nice to say, say 
nothing".

> Hope that doesn't sound rude or unfriendly,

Well, not really, the way you put it, but I hope you can see why the original 
poster would've been offended.  I have also found the general terseness and 
lack of social discussion on this thread to be alienating, and I think it 
breeds this sort of rudeness.

This is supposed to be a Texas list, right?  So, "Drive Friendly"!  ;-)

Cheers,
Terry

--
Terry Hancock ( hancock at anansispaceworks.com )
Anansi Spaceworks  http://www.anansispaceworks.com