On 26/02/00 Sam Heywood wrote:
>Hello fellow Arachnids:
>
>On Fri, 25 Feb 2000 22:53:1 +0800, J J Young made this comment while
>writing on an unrelated subject:
>
>>The only problem has been when the majority were sending HTML-format
>>mail which is displayed as a plain text message followed by the bulky and
>>tiring HTML source. (Since infection by the Kak virus, HTML-format
>>messages are disallowed, but quoted-printable is still an annoyance.
>
>Please enlighten me on how I should interpret the above comment. I know
>nothing about the Kak virus. Is it one that is transmitted by HTML mail?
>Are DOS machines immune to the Kak virus?
Straight from the horse's mouth:
The Kak worm is transmitted by HTML mail and only affects 32-bit Windows.
The quoted message is a reply to a query about email software that can give a
concatenated display of messages i.e. all messages of a particular group (mailbox)
viewed in one document. This format is a great advantage when a high volume of
mail is being dealt with. After all, when we read books we don't have to select a
new document for every paragraph. And how long are our finger joints expected to
last in this IT-age if hundreds of repetitive movements are required each day? I use
keyboard shortcuts a lot for their "bang-bang" control, rather than the precision
required of mousing.
OK, so the concatenation removes the requirement for the bulk of the finger-clickin'
but until a bit of discipline was enforced the vast majority of posters sent HTML
format messages. In the normal run of things I would deal with messages individually
and choose whether or not to open an attachment, but for the list in question I receive
the 250kB digests, each of about 100 messages. Reading these in concacatenated
format before the changes brought about by the Kak worm would require me to view a
message header, then the message and then (more often than not) the HTML part,
about 2x (often more) the bulk of the rest of the message constituents. So, the
useful part of the message may be less than 1/6th of the bulk. If "quoted-printable"
has been used (I don't know what purpose it serves) then junk is introduced into
the text part of the multi-part message, making these sections harder to spot and
to read.
Corresponding directly with some of the posters (usually the over-quoters) gave me
the feedback that people didn't know there was a plain-text option or any of the
reasons why it should be the preferred option. One reply said that Netscape
displayed HTML too, so it must be OK. Another reply was from someone who
finds a colored background easier on his eyes.
So, Sam, my complaining about HTML-mail and quoted-printable was in the context
of reading concatenated messages in a plain-text email client. The Kak virus has
only been a problem to 32-bit Windows users. As such it has been of value to me
and no problem, much as a 30mph zone may annoy motorists but could save my
neck as a cyclist or pedestrian.
Regards,
Jake
