HTML not so evil (was Re: Eudora Replacement)

[jpeavey+blu at peaveynet.com (Justin S. Peavey)]

Gordon Marx wrote:

> Whoa there.
>
>Everyone, repeat after me: HTML is a web format.
>
>HTML mail == the devil. Personally, I killfile all html mail. Other
>people are welcome to their opinions, but generally (as miah pointed
>out) it's considered poor form to send HTML mail out to a mailing
>list.
>  
>
Whoa there.  The fundamentals of HTML were first put out forth back in 
the '40s by Vannevar Bush (an Everett resident BTW) as a means allowing 
cross-references between documents.  True, Bernes-Lee essentially 
modernized it for the purpose of the web, but it still fundamentally is 
a formatting and linking markup language designed for text communication 
and reference, which IMO can make it quite appropriate for email if a 
little more prudence was used by both the senders and the email 
clients.  The fact that this is not current practice shouldn't 
disqualify it as viable format nor keep us from striving for it.  You 
know, the whole baby/bathwater thing.

Mozilla T-bird supports a display mode called "Simple HTML" which will 
use all of the formatting components but not auto-grab links, images, 
etc.  IMO, this is goodness and the way HTML should be rendered in all 
email clients.  Programs like mutt can do this as well by setting up 
lynx or w3m (better & faster) as the default viewer for HTML types.  
This can allow some very powerful features that text alone just can do.  
Examples: 1) Sending a formatted table in an email, no more stupid 
trying to line up ascii characters across lines.  2) The use of 
equations & math symbols in an email without resorting to an external 
program like MS equation editor.  3) Structured text such poetry, code 
where indenting and formatting matter, bullets (that are actually 
bullets, not astericks), etc.

I will agree, that TODAY it is bad form to send out HTML to a mailing 
list, but the primary reason for that is the fact that there are email 
clients still widely in use that can handle simple html formatting.  
This can be changed over time as clients such as Mozilla and others 
become more the standard and some basic practices get put in place.

You know, the invention of the car caused nothing but headaches for a 
the horse/buggy drivers with it's noise, need for paved roads, new 
infrastructure like gas stations, etc.  But we got over it.

-JSP