On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 05:04:38PM -0600, Jim Graham wrote: > On Fri, Nov 23, 2012 at 09:47:46PM +0000, Tony's unattended mail wrote: > > > BTW, sending a variable width format allows for 72 character > > rendering, so these dated ergonomics studies are not at odds with an > > unwrapped source text anyway. > > Two questions about variable width fonts, then....
Stop right there... reread what he said. We're not talking about variable width *fonts* -- we're talking about variable width *formats*, like flowed formatting. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This problem is (currently) best solved by HTML. It's the only way to format mail that's both generally available and lets you flow "normal" paragraphs while specifying that particular other content should not be flowed. Except it doesn't *really* solve the problem, because you still have ignorant users who don't take the time to use it properly... i.e. no matter how good the solution is on the technical side, the human factors still crap all over you. That said, THIS is where the argument that Mutt is outdated is spot on. It's handling of HTML is crap, and probably needs to be due to its design. If you want the appearance of seamlessly integrated HTML mail, it can do (only) OK at *reading* HTML mail, by passing it off to a console-based web browser. Or, it can pass it off to a GUI web browser, in which the mail will generally look as the author intended it to. That doesn't work so well if you're reading your mail locally on the server over a dodgy SSH connection, and horribly breaks the illusion that Mutt is a fully integrated e-mail solution. But it's mostly fine. However, replying to HTML mail is a mostly awful experience, though it can work out kind of ok if you're willing to spend some time playing with the various console-based web browsers and tweaking the mailcap entries. Generating HTML mail reasonably is just plain not possible. It can be done but it's a hack, and the user experience is what you would expect from a hack. If 1.6 ever gets released, IMO the "next big thing" mutt needs to continue to be relevant is integrated HTML mail support. -- Derek D. Martin http://www.pizzashack.org/ GPG Key ID: 0xDFBEAD02 -=-=-=-=- This message is posted from an invalid address. Replying to it will result in undeliverable mail due to spam prevention. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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