[OFB Cafe] Cafe List

[Chris Olson]

From: saki 
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2008 2:30 AM
To: An Open Discussion Forum on Just About Everything,Especially for Techies. 
Subject: Re: [OFB Cafe] Cafe List


> I have never found the lack of (frequently) asinine "bells and whistles" 
> a handicap in communicating.

Well, good for you.  From my standpoint, plain text email (or any document) is the equivalent of watching TV in black and white when you have the option of watching the same program in color High Definition.  The deathly fear of HTML that some of you folks exhibit, perhaps, is a combination of things;
  a.. clinging to the "old ways" (unwillingness to change) 
  b.. a belief that HTML somehow has something to do with Microsoft and Microsoft is responsible for Global Warming, the gradual decline of email lists, famine, drought, floods, and the fact that the universe is expanding 
  c.. your house is black and white, your car is black and white, your cat is black and white, your dog is black and white, your TV is black and white, your computer screen is black and white, you use Mutt for your email client and Lynx for your web browser, you speak in monotones, and by cracky - email should be like the rest of your life
You see, it's like this; the ability to compose formatted documents (email or otherwise) is a tool, that like any tool, can be abused or used to your advantage.  You're not going to either convince me, or convert to me, to your brand of computing religion because for the most part I've BTDT when it comes to computers, and at one point was probably the Head Preacher of the "This Is How It Should Be" brand of computing religion.  However, I finally woke up and saw the light.  Denying yourself (and everybody else) the use of a tool based on the premise that somebody, someplace, might abuse that tool, is your own loss.

FYI, I ran mailing lists for many years with HTML fully enabled on the list servers, and never had single problem with it.  Not one.

It'll be interesting to see what Mailman does with my bulleted list above (another nice HTML tool BTW).
--
Chris