> This is a flame mail, skip this if you don't like those. I'd like to point
> out that this flame is not against some person, certainly not any of the
> persons quoted here - I'm just reacting to the normal arguments on this
> matter.
Umm ... as he said.
> BZZT! Technically correct, but wrong answer.
>
> The fact that the RFC's mandate 7-bit messages is totally irrelevant,
> because bad standards _should_ be broken. Adhering to old and outdated
> standards is a sure way to keep UNIX unfriendly and backwards: we have to
> ADAPT to new circumstances.
BZZT! Wrong answer. See below.
> Essentially, QP doesn't fix the _reason_ for the problem, it only fixes the
> symptoms. It's like giving a cancer patient painkillers and sending him home
> to die in peace without even _trying_ to save him first. Sure, painkillers
> are the easy answer, but are they the _right_ answer?
Wrong analogy.
You are looking at one part of the picture only, and pointing out that it
doesn't look good. Big surprise there.
The whole picture is like this:
Besides QP, there is 8BITMIME.
The idea is that, over time, most mailers will implement 8BITMIME. When
this has happened, there will no longer be a reason to use QP; simply use
8 bit and it will work.
In the meantime, using QP means that it works even where mailers have not
yet adopted 8BITMIME.
Yes, you can have your cake and eat it, too.
MfG Kai