Open Letter to Internet Mail Users ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Date: 2005-12-14 From: strk@keybit.net Subject: Would you ? Abstract -------- The e-mail architecture has served the electronic community well for many years now. What made it so long-lived is its simplicity, ensuring easy support by a heterogeneous network of computer systems. In recent years, unnecessary complexity is increasingly being introduced into electronic communications. This letter is to ask *you* to keep it simple. Some history ------------ The definition process of mail format has undergone a public discussion path, with the exchange of the so-called Request For Comment documents. The ancestor RFC for internet mail format is RFC-822: Standard for the format of ARPA internet text messages - August 1982 (http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc822.txt). Nearly a decade later the need was raised for exchanging more than just simple text via the internet mail format. RFCs were published, calling the new format "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions" (MIME). The extensions provided a mechanism for tagging the content of a mail message, allowing for multipart content to be mixed within a single message. Uses and misuses ----------------- Multipurpose content in internet messages is A GOOD THING to have defined, providing a standard way to exchange graphics, sounds, and text written in languages other than English. We are fortunate to have the ability to share information in a standard, documented way. Too often, non-text mail messages are used when a simple text message would do. This is harmful because it raises the requirements for the recipient. While a simple text message (ASCII) could be read by *any* computer system, reading non-text messages requires special equipment. "Special equipment?" you say? "You must be kidding!" No kidding! While you may consider your own computer configuration to be nothing special, it can be very different than those of other users on the network. The network is very large and very diverse in terms of hardware, software, and users. There are people reading mail via pagers and handheld devices, forwarding mail to GSM phones, printing mail to old dot-matrix printers, transferring mail using low-bandwidth connections, and doing things you cannot even imagine with simple text messages. Keeping mail content as simple as possible is a nice gift for your mail recipients, providing them with the freedom to use the mail in whatever manner they choose. When sending to a group of recipients it becomes even more important to keep this in mind, or you might hurt *many* people at once. What should I do when I really need multipurpose content ? ---------------------------------------------------------- You probably don't need it. However, if you don't have access to an FTP or HTTP server where you can place your pictures and sounds, a MIME mail message might be the only transport option available. In this case it is wise to ask the recipient's permission to send the pack of data, as MIME messages are really like packs compared to text mail. "HTML mails are a different matter, right?" Wrong! An HTML document is still a pack, you need the equivalent of scissors to open it and a trashcan for the wrapping paper (in other words, an HTML reader). The most disturbing mails contain HTML only. Senders tend to believe those mails are readable by anyone, and don't even bother inserting an introductory text note. It's like receiving a gift pack without a label or greeting card (hmmm...should I open this?) As a compromise, people started to send mail in double format; multipart content composed of a both HTML and TEXT. That way the recipient can read the content without having to open the wrap. That's a good intention and has a positive effect. Still, is it worth including the HTML version at all, considering the plain text version is readable by all recipients? Either the text version has a lower quality (in fact discriminating your readers) or you're just wasting bandwidth.... Conclusion ---------- Please, *please*, consider sending your mail message in plain text (ASCII) format the next time you click the "Send" button! Thank you! --strk; /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign \ / Respect for low technology. X Keep e-mail messages readable by any computer system. / \ Keep it ASCII.