RE: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-28 Thread Yaakov Stein
Marc

I opened the link on two different devices,
to see how the tables rendered.

On one (iPod touch with Safari), it worked reasonably. 
The only problem was that the table columns were skewed
due to browser not using monospace fonts. Were the table more complex
or were there some truly wacky ASCII art it probably wouldn't have worked.

On a second device (running a different browser, unnamed to protect the guilty)
I received a continuous stream of characters with no line breaks at all.
When viewing the txt version on www.rfc-editor.org that same browser 
does a fairly good job, assuming that I rotate the device to fit the
table into the width.

However, these 2 tables were small and relatively simple.
Why don't you try Figure 3 of RFC 5087 or Figure 2 or 15 of RFC 5905 ?


Y(J)S


-Original Message-
From: Marc Petit-Huguenin [mailto:petit...@acm.org] 
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 18:20
To: Yaakov Stein
Cc: Dave Aronson; IETF Discussion
Subject: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not plain ASCII.  They are
technically in a special format that I would call line-printer ready text
file, and ASCII is the encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:

- - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
- - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late for a specific
extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the AddType directive for these 
files[1].
- - A program to display text/lp files, one at least for each platform.  If
someone take care of the mime-type, I'll write the program to display correctly
text/lp files on the Android platform.


[1] Try this link: http://ietf.implementers.org/rfc5928.txt.  The mime type
should be text/lp.

On 11/27/2011 12:20 AM, Yaakov Stein wrote:
 Dave
 
 I agree that we are thinking as content creators, and that is the problem.
 
 The requirement is not that we will be able to write a new document in 50 
 years in the same format. 
 The requirement is that we should be able to read the documents written 50 
 years before.
 
 The problem about ASCII art is not simply the monospacing.
 The main problem is the line wrapping.
 
 I have tried many times to look at ASCII art on iPhones, iPods, and even 
 small pads. 
 Once you zoom down sufficiently to get the lines not to break, 
 the characters are no longer readable.
 For a screen size of about 60 mm, 80 character lines means that the 
 characters are only 0.75mm in width.
 Even assuming a short figure that could be viewed rotated (width 110 mm)
 each character width would be only slightly more than the 1 mm needed for 
 viewing,
 and less than the 1.5 mm needed for actual reading.
  
 Put in another way, high-end cellphone screens presently have 640 pixel 
 widths.
 For 80 character layouts, this translates to 8 pixels per character plus 
 inter-character spacing,
 or about 6 pixel character widths. 
 Even were they visible (and each pixel is less than 1/10 of a mm!)
 this would mean very low quality fonts - 5*7 was the lowest quality used by 
 old dot-matrix printers.
 And modern software is not optimized for readability at that font resolution.
 
 So, if we expect people to be able to read our documents in 5 years, let 
 alone 50,
 we need to stop using ASCII art.
 
 Y(J)S
 
 -Original Message-
 From: ietf-boun...@ietf.org [mailto:ietf-boun...@ietf.org] On Behalf Of Dave 
 Aronson
 Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 00:10
 To: IETF Discussion
 Subject: Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again
 
 On Sat, Nov 26, 2011 at 15:52, Yaakov Stein yaako...@rad.com wrote:
 
 ASCII is already unreadable on many popular devices
 
 Oh?  For what reason?  Sorry, I'm still using an incredibly stupid
 phone, so I may be behind the curve on such changes.  As far as I've
 seen in my limited exposure, any difficulty is usually because it's
 often not linewrapped well (or at all), forcing a lot of horizontal
 scrolling, especially after being forced to be big enough to be
 legible on tiny screens not held right up to the face.  That's rather
 inconvenient, but still a far cry from unreadable -- plus it's a
 problem with the reader program (being too featureless to rewrap the
 text), not anything inherent in the format.
 
 ASCII *artwork*, yes, that often gets ruined by the refusal of many
 programs to allow the user  to display content in a monospaced font.
 But that's not because it's in plain ASCII; you could say the same
 thing of a Word or PDF document that incorporates ASCII art.
 
 I am referring to the fact that more and more people are reading
 documents on cell-phones and other small devices.
 According to analysts, this will be the most popular platform for reading
 material from the Internet within a few years.
 
 But among what audience?  End-users at large, yes, I can certainly
 believe that.  But techies, especially of sufficient caliber to even
 *want* 

RE: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-28 Thread Yaakov Stein
 That would work too.  I added a third URL that returns
 text/plain;format=fixed;line-length=72

 http://ietf.implementers.org/fixed/rfc5928.txt

That is the worst option for my two devices. 
On both devices the line wraps distort the tables beyond recognition.

Y(J)S
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-28 Thread Marc Petit-Huguenin
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 11/28/2011 01:52 AM, Yaakov Stein wrote:
 Marc
 
 I opened the link on two different devices,
 to see how the tables rendered.
 
 On one (iPod touch with Safari), it worked reasonably. 
 The only problem was that the table columns were skewed
 due to browser not using monospace fonts. Were the table more complex
 or were there some truly wacky ASCII art it probably wouldn't have worked.
 
 On a second device (running a different browser, unnamed to protect the 
 guilty)
 I received a continuous stream of characters with no line breaks at all.
 When viewing the txt version on www.rfc-editor.org that same browser 
 does a fairly good job, assuming that I rotate the device to fit the
 table into the width.
 
 However, these 2 tables were small and relatively simple.
 Why don't you try Figure 3 of RFC 5087 or Figure 2 or 15 of RFC 5905 ?
 

I added all the RFCs in all 3 directories, so you can now test with your
favorite RFC.

- -- 
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Personal email: m...@petit-huguenin.org
Professional email: petit...@acm.org
Blog: http://blog.marc.petit-huguenin.org
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk7TwaMACgkQ9RoMZyVa61cAEwCfSoNZ0htfiOTnpXbceAEybW0U
rOoAoIAd2Ad3b8+n5jzjPKFmkpejeArg
=ONLn
-END PGP SIGNATURE-
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-28 Thread Julian Reschke

On 2011-11-27 17:20, Marc Petit-Huguenin wrote:

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not plain ASCII.  They are
technically in a special format that I would call line-printer ready text
file, and ASCII is the encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:

- - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
- - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late for a specific
extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the AddType directive for these 
files[1].
- - A program to display text/lp files, one at least for each platform.  If
someone take care of the mime-type, I'll write the program to display correctly
text/lp files on the Android platform.
...


I think something is wrong if we seriously consider that writing new 
reader tools is the solution to whatever we think our problem is.


Best regards, Julian
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-28 Thread Marc Petit-Huguenin
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 11/28/2011 01:58 AM, Yaakov Stein wrote:
 That would work too.  I added a third URL that returns
 text/plain;format=fixed;line-length=72
 
 http://ietf.implementers.org/fixed/rfc5928.txt
 
 That is the worst option for my two devices. 
 On both devices the line wraps distort the tables beyond recognition.
 

Well, the point was that a browser or any other display application cannot
detect that a specific text file is in fact a line-printer ready text file.
This is why we propose to assign a mime type or a mime parameter, so (future)
applications know how to present it.

The first step is to let John know if you support doing this (and eventually if
you have a preference between the 3 options).  Then if the idea goes forward, we
can start the work of modifying the applications so they render correctly this
format.

- -- 
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Personal email: m...@petit-huguenin.org
Professional email: petit...@acm.org
Blog: http://blog.marc.petit-huguenin.org
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk7TwqcACgkQ9RoMZyVa61cEBACfeL+jaxH86JV7PE1YmDzqDAuK
ZAEAn2XoUYFTjinfZuTLctF2MnAhp9kT
=swso
-END PGP SIGNATURE-
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread Marc Petit-Huguenin
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not plain ASCII.  They are
technically in a special format that I would call line-printer ready text
file, and ASCII is the encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:

- - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
- - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late for a specific
extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the AddType directive for these 
files[1].
- - A program to display text/lp files, one at least for each platform.  If
someone take care of the mime-type, I'll write the program to display correctly
text/lp files on the Android platform.


[1] Try this link: http://ietf.implementers.org/rfc5928.txt.  The mime type
should be text/lp.

On 11/27/2011 12:20 AM, Yaakov Stein wrote:
 Dave
 
 I agree that we are thinking as content creators, and that is the problem.
 
 The requirement is not that we will be able to write a new document in 50 
 years in the same format. 
 The requirement is that we should be able to read the documents written 50 
 years before.
 
 The problem about ASCII art is not simply the monospacing.
 The main problem is the line wrapping.
 
 I have tried many times to look at ASCII art on iPhones, iPods, and even 
 small pads. 
 Once you zoom down sufficiently to get the lines not to break, 
 the characters are no longer readable.
 For a screen size of about 60 mm, 80 character lines means that the 
 characters are only 0.75mm in width.
 Even assuming a short figure that could be viewed rotated (width 110 mm)
 each character width would be only slightly more than the 1 mm needed for 
 viewing,
 and less than the 1.5 mm needed for actual reading.
  
 Put in another way, high-end cellphone screens presently have 640 pixel 
 widths.
 For 80 character layouts, this translates to 8 pixels per character plus 
 inter-character spacing,
 or about 6 pixel character widths. 
 Even were they visible (and each pixel is less than 1/10 of a mm!)
 this would mean very low quality fonts - 5*7 was the lowest quality used by 
 old dot-matrix printers.
 And modern software is not optimized for readability at that font resolution.
 
 So, if we expect people to be able to read our documents in 5 years, let 
 alone 50,
 we need to stop using ASCII art.
 
 Y(J)S
 
 -Original Message-
 From: ietf-boun...@ietf.org [mailto:ietf-boun...@ietf.org] On Behalf Of Dave 
 Aronson
 Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 00:10
 To: IETF Discussion
 Subject: Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again
 
 On Sat, Nov 26, 2011 at 15:52, Yaakov Stein yaako...@rad.com wrote:
 
 ASCII is already unreadable on many popular devices
 
 Oh?  For what reason?  Sorry, I'm still using an incredibly stupid
 phone, so I may be behind the curve on such changes.  As far as I've
 seen in my limited exposure, any difficulty is usually because it's
 often not linewrapped well (or at all), forcing a lot of horizontal
 scrolling, especially after being forced to be big enough to be
 legible on tiny screens not held right up to the face.  That's rather
 inconvenient, but still a far cry from unreadable -- plus it's a
 problem with the reader program (being too featureless to rewrap the
 text), not anything inherent in the format.
 
 ASCII *artwork*, yes, that often gets ruined by the refusal of many
 programs to allow the user  to display content in a monospaced font.
 But that's not because it's in plain ASCII; you could say the same
 thing of a Word or PDF document that incorporates ASCII art.
 
 I am referring to the fact that more and more people are reading
 documents on cell-phones and other small devices.
 According to analysts, this will be the most popular platform for reading
 material from the Internet within a few years.
 
 But among what audience?  End-users at large, yes, I can certainly
 believe that.  But techies, especially of sufficient caliber to even
 *want* to read the IETF's output, let alone participate in creating
 it?  Very doubtful.  I don't think we'll be giving up our laptops,
 never mind large monitors, any time soon.
 
 Phones and tablets are for content *consumption*.  We are content
 *creators*, be it programs, documents, or whatever.  That's an
 entirely different set of hardware requirements.  When was the last
 time you saw a program or document or anything else of significant
 size, written using a phone, or even a tablet?
 
 -Dave
 
 ___
 Ietf mailing list
 Ietf@ietf.org
 https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
 


- -- 
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Personal email: m...@petit-huguenin.org
Professional email: petit...@acm.org
Blog: http://blog.marc.petit-huguenin.org
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk7SYzsACgkQ9RoMZyVa61eSRACfQsLQvu0pa/gR/LTNlGiMBpIH
/w0AoINZZMQGcPqUzn9QK/nlQR/w/oUq
=2eH4
-END PGP SIGNATURE-
___
Ietf mailing list

Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread John C Klensin


--On Sunday, November 27, 2011 08:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
petit...@acm.org wrote:
 
 The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not plain
 ASCII.  They are technically in a special format that I would
 call line-printer ready text file, and ASCII is the
 encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:
 
 - - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
 - - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late for
 a specific extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the AddType
 directive for these files[1]. - - A program to display text/lp
 files, one at least for each platform.  If someone take care
 of the mime-type, I'll write the program to display correctly
 text/lp files on the Android platform.

Out of curiosity (and again my better judgment about getting
further involved in this discussion), why do you think

  text/lp
is needed and not
  text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=lp
?

(please read RFC 3676 before answering -- it is not clear to me
that

   format=fixed 

would not do as well, possibly supplemented by an additional
line length parameter.

best,
   john



___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread Marc Petit-Huguenin
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 11/27/2011 10:36 AM, John C Klensin wrote:
 
 
 --On Sunday, November 27, 2011 08:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
 petit...@acm.org wrote:
  
 The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not plain
 ASCII.  They are technically in a special format that I would
 call line-printer ready text file, and ASCII is the
 encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:

 - - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
 - - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late for
 a specific extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the AddType
 directive for these files[1]. - - A program to display text/lp
 files, one at least for each platform.  If someone take care
 of the mime-type, I'll write the program to display correctly
 text/lp files on the Android platform.
 
 Out of curiosity (and again my better judgment about getting
 further involved in this discussion), why do you think
 
   text/lp
 is needed and not
   text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=lp
 ?

Did not think of that, that's better IMO.  Apache can do this (the link I gave
in a previous email is now returning text/plain; format=lp; charset=us-ascii).

But this creates practical issues.  My browser is not capable of assigning a
specific helper to text/plain; format=lp, say /usr/bin/qrfcview (i.e.
different from text/plain; format=fixed which in my case would be assigned to
/usr/bin/gvim).  An Android app would have the same issue as I guess many other
platforms.  It is the display application that will have to use this parameter
to select the display mode, so instead of having an additional program per
platform that displays the text/lp type, we will need to modify all applications
that can render text/plain so they can correctly interpret the format=lp 
parameter.

 
 (please read RFC 3676 before answering -- it is not clear to me
 that
 
format=fixed 
 
 would not do as well, possibly supplemented by an additional
 line length parameter.

What would be missing is an indication that only a fixed font must be used.

- -- 
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Personal email: m...@petit-huguenin.org
Professional email: petit...@acm.org
Blog: http://blog.marc.petit-huguenin.org
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk7SjXcACgkQ9RoMZyVa61ctQwCgp5s/U1a5h/8B1bUM+1iTY6P6
I2UAnRvf4qeSRwwmzBP3XRVX5raLMdcI
=XIXx
-END PGP SIGNATURE-
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread Marc Petit-Huguenin
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 11/27/2011 11:20 AM, Marc Petit-Huguenin wrote:
 On 11/27/2011 10:36 AM, John C Klensin wrote:
 
 
 --On Sunday, November 27, 2011 08:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
 petit...@acm.org wrote:
 
 The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not plain
 ASCII.  They are technically in a special format that I would
 call line-printer ready text file, and ASCII is the
 encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:

 - - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
 - - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late for
 a specific extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the AddType
 directive for these files[1]. - - A program to display text/lp
 files, one at least for each platform.  If someone take care
 of the mime-type, I'll write the program to display correctly
 text/lp files on the Android platform.
 
 Out of curiosity (and again my better judgment about getting
 further involved in this discussion), why do you think
 
   text/lp
 is needed and not
   text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=lp
 ?
 
 Did not think of that, that's better IMO.  Apache can do this (the link I gave
 in a previous email is now returning text/plain; format=lp; 
 charset=us-ascii).

http://ietf.implementers.org/mime/rfc5928.txt now returns text/lp
http://ietf.implementers.org/format/rfc5928.txt now returns text/plain;format=lp

- -- 
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Personal email: m...@petit-huguenin.org
Professional email: petit...@acm.org
Blog: http://blog.marc.petit-huguenin.org
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk7SjvwACgkQ9RoMZyVa61dwmQCaAhj6WDUNR3Zvv04jSA2Xs65y
2LcAn3vLq1/LOUxyfTCpkHzPKvHfj42f
=ba/+
-END PGP SIGNATURE-
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread John C Klensin


--On Sunday, November 27, 2011 11:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
petit...@acm.org wrote:


 On 11/27/2011 10:36 AM, John C Klensin wrote:
 
 
 --On Sunday, November 27, 2011 08:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
 petit...@acm.org wrote:
  
 The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not
 plain ASCII.  They are technically in a special format that
 I would call line-printer ready text file, and ASCII is the
 encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:
 
 - - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
 - - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late
 for a specific extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the
 AddType directive for these files[1]. - - A program to
 display text/lp files, one at least for each platform.  If
 someone take care of the mime-type, I'll write the program
 to display correctly text/lp files on the Android platform.
 
 Out of curiosity (and again my better judgment about getting
 further involved in this discussion), why do you think
 
   text/lp
 is needed and not
   text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=lp
 ?
 
 Did not think of that, that's better IMO.  Apache can do this
 (the link I gave in a previous email is now returning
 text/plain; format=lp; charset=us-ascii).
 
 But this creates practical issues.  My browser is not capable
 of assigning a specific helper to text/plain; format=lp, say
 /usr/bin/qrfcview (i.e. different from text/plain;
 format=fixed which in my case would be assigned to
 /usr/bin/gvim).  An Android app would have the same issue as I
 guess many other platforms.

This (IMO, deficient) issue with browsers refusing to
differentiate / dispatch on parameters is the traditional issue
with such parameters.  The choice then becomes one between fix
the obscenity browsers and propagate media subtypes when
parameters would do.  I obviously have a preference, but it may
not be practical/realistic.

  It is the display application
 that will have to use this parameter to select the display
 mode, so instead of having an additional program per platform
 that displays the text/lp type, we will need to modify all
 applications that can render text/plain so they can correctly
 interpret the format=lp parameter.

Yep, although that modification would serve us well in lots of
other ways, IMO. 

 (please read RFC 3676 before answering -- it is not clear to
 me that
 
format=fixed 
 
 would not do as well, possibly supplemented by an additional
 line length parameter.
 
 What would be missing is an indication that only a fixed font
 must be used.

But RFC 3636 says (Section 3) Text/Plain is usually displayed
as preformatted text, often in a fixed font..  That is clearly
a lot short of a requirement but, if one were going to use a
line length parameter, one could specify that it implies a
fixed-width font or display system (or name it something that
would make that more clear).

I'm willing to write up either an extension/update to RFC3676 or
a new subtype if there is enough expression of interest (not
just the two of us) to indicate that such a proposal would be
likely to go somewhere.

   john





___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread Marc Petit-Huguenin
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

On 11/27/2011 11:38 AM, John C Klensin wrote:
 
 
 --On Sunday, November 27, 2011 11:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
 petit...@acm.org wrote:
 
 
 On 11/27/2011 10:36 AM, John C Klensin wrote:


 --On Sunday, November 27, 2011 08:20 -0800 Marc Petit-Huguenin
 petit...@acm.org wrote:
  
 The problem here is that RFC and Internet-Drafts are not
 plain ASCII.  They are technically in a special format that
 I would call line-printer ready text file, and ASCII is the
 encoding, not the format.  What is needed is:

 - - A mime-type for line-printer ready text (say text/lp)
 - - An heuristic to recognize text/lp files (it's too late
 for a specific extension).  Apache HTTP server can use the
 AddType directive for these files[1]. - - A program to
 display text/lp files, one at least for each platform.  If
 someone take care of the mime-type, I'll write the program
 to display correctly text/lp files on the Android platform.

 Out of curiosity (and again my better judgment about getting
 further involved in this discussion), why do you think

   text/lp
 is needed and not
   text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=lp
 ?

 Did not think of that, that's better IMO.  Apache can do this
 (the link I gave in a previous email is now returning
 text/plain; format=lp; charset=us-ascii).

 But this creates practical issues.  My browser is not capable
 of assigning a specific helper to text/plain; format=lp, say
 /usr/bin/qrfcview (i.e. different from text/plain;
 format=fixed which in my case would be assigned to
 /usr/bin/gvim).  An Android app would have the same issue as I
 guess many other platforms.
 
 This (IMO, deficient) issue with browsers refusing to
 differentiate / dispatch on parameters is the traditional issue
 with such parameters.  The choice then becomes one between fix
 the obscenity browsers and propagate media subtypes when
 parameters would do.  I obviously have a preference, but it may
 not be practical/realistic.
 
  It is the display application
 that will have to use this parameter to select the display
 mode, so instead of having an additional program per platform
 that displays the text/lp type, we will need to modify all
 applications that can render text/plain so they can correctly
 interpret the format=lp parameter.
 
 Yep, although that modification would serve us well in lots of
 other ways, IMO. 
 
 (please read RFC 3676 before answering -- it is not clear to
 me that

format=fixed 

 would not do as well, possibly supplemented by an additional
 line length parameter.

 What would be missing is an indication that only a fixed font
 must be used.
 
 But RFC 3636 says (Section 3) Text/Plain is usually displayed
 as preformatted text, often in a fixed font..  That is clearly
 a lot short of a requirement but, if one were going to use a
 line length parameter, one could specify that it implies a
 fixed-width font or display system (or name it something that
 would make that more clear).

That would work too.  I added a third URL that returns
text/plain;format=fixed;line-length=72

http://ietf.implementers.org/fixed/rfc5928.txt

 
 I'm willing to write up either an extension/update to RFC3676 or
 a new subtype if there is enough expression of interest (not
 just the two of us) to indicate that such a proposal would be
 likely to go somewhere.
 
john

- -- 
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Personal email: m...@petit-huguenin.org
Professional email: petit...@acm.org
Blog: http://blog.marc.petit-huguenin.org
-BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-
Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)

iEYEARECAAYFAk7SlCoACgkQ9RoMZyVa61c4twCgpONWZDAtNdLObMMCbIhJ0tBV
CboAoJEqk3z5QuBopwDdCwSTtEgAbpjZ
=ZxUz
-END PGP SIGNATURE-
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf


Re: text/lp [was Re: discouraged by .docx was Re: Plagued by PPTX again]

2011-11-27 Thread Frank Ellermann
On 27 November 2011 20:38, John C Klensin john-i...@jck.com wrote:

 I'm willing to write up either an extension/update to RFC3676 or
 a new subtype if there is enough expression of interest (not
 just the two of us) to indicate that such a proposal would be
 likely to go somewhere.

As Gmail web UI user I'm interested in any attempts to get the
concept of monospaced to the attention of Google engineers.

So far a user script (or of course a MUA such as TB) do the
trick for me after Gmail killed its monospaced lab some years
ago.  Use simple words (4 or less characters) in short sentences
(no commas, semicolons, dashes, only MUSTard and periods), this
is a very advanced topic for folks who never used command lines
or punched cards.

-Frank
___
Ietf mailing list
Ietf@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf