what is wrong with d.clear()?

[Steven D'Aprano]

Dave Angel wrote:

> Or even better:  Don't use html email for forum messages.  It frequently
> messes up the colors, the font, the formatting (like indentation), or
> even prevents some people from even seeing and/or replying to the
> message.  Put the email program in text mode, and just send what you
> want people to see.


I agree, but alas the horse has bolted and the idiots have taken over.

We cannot stop the great mass of people sending HTML mail, but there is no
reason why we have to *read* HTML email. Even today, most mail clients will
send a plain text part that contains the same content as the HTML part, and
any decent mail client can be set to prefer the plain text part in
preference to rendering the HTML.

For those few cases where there is no plain text part[1], the better mail
clients (such as mutt) will include an option to dump the raw HTML to plain
text, minus all the tags.

Last but not least, for the *vanishingly small* number of cases that has no
plain text part, and the formatting of the text dump is unreadable, or
where the formatting of the HTML is actually essential to understanding the
post, then you have a choice of pressing Delete on the message or rendering
the HTML. But rendering HTML should never be the default.




[1] Or worse, one of those shitty messages that include a plain text part
that says "Your mail program cannot read this email. Please upgrade to a
better mail program."


-- 
Steven