On Thu, Dec 01, 2005 at 07:53:34AM -0600, Bo Peng wrote: > > IMO this is a bug in the mail programs Bo is using. > > This is a feature/bug of sendmail. Considering the dominance of this > program, I would not say it is only "Bo's mail program". > > > The dot mechanism should > > be completely transparent to the user. kmail has had this bug, too: > > http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17025 > > I still do not get it. Who should be responsible for fixing this? Mail > client or server? I tried the very basic "mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] < a > lyx" file on a unix machine (sendmal is used) and the converted file > is in my /var/mail/username. Neither MS/OE nor Linux/Mutt convert the > dots back .
Would you do mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] < file with a binary file, and expect it to work? Probably not. If the standards really prescribe dot-doubling, then this _don't_ work for any text file containing single-dot lines either, such as lyx files. So don't send lyx files that way - because you apparently violate email standards and get an expected result. Send the file as attachment - a good mailer should know how to attach a file so that it doesn't get mangled. Either by encoding in base64, or by using some other countermeasure. If your mailer won't do that, report a bug and/or change mailer. (Those forced to use a buggy mailer by the employer can normally install the extra mailer as an additional mailer instead of as a default mailer. Then use it only for lyx files. Inconvenient? Report the bug to the employer. . .) Helge Hafting
