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RE: (No!) MIME
Subject:
RE: (No!) MIME
Date:
Mon, 24 Mar 1997 06:35:15 GMT
From:
robert.michaels-at-online.sme-dot-org (Robert Michaels)
Organization:
Society of Manufacturing Engineers
To:
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
T> Date:
T> Mon, 17 Mar 97 06:54:29 UT
T> From: "William Noble" <William_B_Noble-at-msn-dot-com> T> To:
T> "Tesla List" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
T>I don't think that there is much choice about MIME or UUENCODE or HTML
or
T>whatever. When you compose a mail message, it has to be encoded
somehow to
T>pass through the net to the server and back again. It does seem to me
T>that
[ ... ]
No, No, and No: Internet E-Mail is nothing but plain 7-bit
ASCII (Sometimes erroneously called "DOS text"). If you
write using a simple text editor, or a word processor capable
of saving docs in plain ASCII, or a DOS/ASCII off-line mail
reader, then such output can be sent directly.
Encoding is necessary =only= if one is E-Mailing something
other than an ASCII text document. E.g.: graphic images,
sound files, executable (binary) programs, etc.
If one is sending ASCII text there is nothing to encode.
To "encode" in this case means to convert something other
than ASCII text into that form and format.
[ ... ]
T>the point of all this is that using mime or not using mime is not
always
T>a
T>choice. But HTML can be avoided.
No, again. MIME is an encoding scheme (one of several). If
you've nothing to encode, there's no reason to run it thru
MIME.
HTML can be avoided. And MIME also. And both ought to be,
unless one is E-Mailing images, programs, sounds.
Yours for clarity in communications,
Robert Michaels - Tough Enough to
Read in Detroit (if you sent it in
ASCII)