[plug] HTML mail (partial flame and suggestions)

[Bernd Felsche]

James Devenish <devenish at guild.uwa.edu.au> writes:

>It is true that Mailman already includes a feature to do this (it can
>strip out the HTML part if a corresponding plain-text part is present,
>then convert any lone HTML parts to plain text). Of course, this can at
>times result in an unfaithful reproduction of what the sender sent to
>the list. But I'm not inclined to be the one to put my foot down and
>modify the list to use this feature given the current lack of feedback
>from others.

You also have to consider how those messages will render when viewed
through a web front-end. Shouldn't you strip out embedded code such
as ECMAscript anyway because of the potential malicious nature? Do
we want to have unsponsored advertising banners appearing when
somebody views our archives?

As for "unfaithful reproduction"; HTML is a language of _hints_.
Ignore the hints. Just about every machine will render the
"document" differently once the user has futzed with it for a week.
-- 
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