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Groups > comp.lang.c > #77916

OT: Usenet (Was: unicode is a fail)

From Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com>
Newsgroups comp.lang.c
Subject OT: Usenet (Was: unicode is a fail)
Date 2015-12-05 20:41 +0000
Organization Friends of the Galactic Collective
Message-ID <dqK1J9.1yz.6udoW@gmail.com> (permalink)
References <fbcae10f-7fc6-4a1e-90d7-ea4925016e47@googlegroups.com> <Lm9Wic.bdh.YZJEv@gmail.com> <slrnn65dpp.5q5.grahn+nntp@frailea.sa.invalid>

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On Sat, Dec 05, 2015 at 10:06:51AM +0000, Jorgen Grahn wrote:
> On Wed, 2015-12-02, Steve Thompson wrote:
> ...
> > I would like to see Usenet evolve to the point where client software
> > supports something like the open-document format currently used by
> > Openoffice.  It makes sense to eventually transition to an article
> > format that supports a rich set of styles, etc.  Something like
> > [Display] Postscript might be another good choice.
> 
> That would be a serious mistake, IMO. There's a lot of power in the
> simplicity of pure text, hard line breaks and fixed-width fonts (so
> you can show simple tables and diagrams).

I do not disagree with the notion that pure text has considerable
power; this is obviously the reason standard English is so successful.
However, humans also communicate with diagrams and pictures.

> Look at how badly HTML mail works.  Sending /one/ mail works fine, but
> it's impossible IME to keep a conversation with proper quoting that
> way.  There are also the opportunities for privacy violations and
> scams.

I doubt there would ever be a restriction such that a Postscript-like
format became the lowest common denominator for messages.  Plain text
should always be an option, and we can safely speculate that even in
the far off future bandwidth considerations will still figure into the
logistics of communications.  Chances are text/plain is not going to
become obsolete anytime soon.

I have a beef with both the ASCII-only camp as well as those who want
produce HTML format articles.  The former group mostly ignores the
fact that diagrams and such are rather useful, while the second group
apparently wants to make your newsreader produce gobs of metadata as
it gathers all the inline images and such from remote servers.

I have used Postscript as an example because it is a well-established
document format, and as it is based on Forth allows the potential to
fashion interactive gadgets which run in VM, or "on the page" as it
were.  Before you go all "security!" on me note that there should be
no reason to give access to the network or local file system to a
virtual piece of paper, or article.  The direction of HTML on the Web
has been different, and it seems that marketing has become much of the
motive force behind related formal/informal standardization activity.
I do not think that the spectacle of Web-mail is necessarily
indicative of flaws which should automatically disqualify related
approaches to improving the repertoire of article content in terms of
its representation.  I hold the hope that the Web in its current form
is something of an artifact of these early years of the Internet, and
that it will be superseded generally by more refined standards and
protocols.

For Usenet then the requirement is client software which understands
how to interpret and compose a rich document format.  This implies
that the distinction between text editors and word processors may
blur, even if the text editor qua text editor does not disappear (vi,
emacs, etc.) as it is unlikely to do.  It is possibly useful to note
here that while it is possible to communicate with text, text is not a
requirement for human communication, and that electronic mail and
Usenet articles should reflect this basic fact in some fashion.
Nominal storage and bandwidth considerations may easily make the
inclusion of embedded video sequences entirely practical on some
networks, and if so why not?  The same logic holds for annotated
diagrams.

> > As a character-cell text-only medium Usenet has perhaps little future,
> > never mind the socio-politics and socio-economics pushing everything
> > to Web-2.0.
> 
> Yeah, there is that.  Sometimes it seems people in general are not
> interested in communicating well.  They seem fine with the idea that
> Facebook decides what they should see, and so on. I don't know what
> can be done about that.

One of the problems is the cognitive bias people have regarding their
own language skills.  I have met any number of people who see nothing
wrong with being barely literate (and perhaps barely sentient), even
as they are surrounded by the products of literate groups.  Notions of
class figure in to this, but also the human tendency to rationalize
one's own character traits as positive absolutes.  Among other things
this leads to anti-intellectualism among those for whom
intellectualism is a restricted area.  Culturally in the West there is
a widespread false belief in the validity of relativism where one
value system is thought to be no better and no worse than another.  In
practice this belief is restricted to pop-culture value systems which
may not even exist except in the minds of teenagers.  I presume this
is mainly the result of education/propaganda by those who consciously
self-identify with one of the better Estates.

In the context of Facebark, much of the attraction must be the
feedback from one's peers.  And if many people (kids) never acquire a
sense of what they are missing by giving up the paragraph as the basic
unit of human communication, how will they know?  The proposition that
language is thought appears to be attached to some controversy, but in
my mind it is blindingly obvious that it is true.  I do not know what
to do about that either, but at the least it should be possible to
make alternatives available even if they compete at a disadvantage to
the instant gratification reward pathways intrinsic to such systems.



Regards,

Steve Thompson

-- 
"If I had a nickel for every time some idiot called me about a
computer problem that turned out to be user error, I would be able to
retire and spend the rest of my days cultivating clues in my backyard
hillside garden."  -- MysteryDog in 24hoursupport.helpdesk.

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Thread

unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 08:01 -0800
  Re: unicode is a fail me <self@example.org> - 2015-12-02 16:12 +0000
    Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 09:09 -0800
  Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-02 08:18 -0800
    Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 09:07 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 11:21 -0600
        Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 09:40 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 11:22 -0800
          Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 15:59 -0600
            Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 16:25 -0800
              Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 19:47 -0600
          Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-02 14:38 -0800
            Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 16:26 -0800
              Re: unicode is a fail Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-09 11:33 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-09 12:21 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 11:28 +0100
          Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-03 08:50 -0600
            Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 16:38 +0100
              Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-03 10:01 -0600
            Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-03 09:46 -0800
            Re: unicode is a fail raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-04 12:39 +0000
          Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 08:26 -0800
            Re: unicode is a fail glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-03 18:42 +0000
              Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 17:14 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 19:02 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-04 06:35 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail David Thompson <dave.thompson2@verizon.net> - 2015-12-28 05:11 -0500
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-04 10:24 -0600
            Re: unicode is a fail Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-03 22:37 +0000
              Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-04 11:32 +0100
    Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 11:10 -0600
      Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 09:24 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 13:10 -0600
          Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-02 19:45 +0000
            Re: unicode is a fail Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-12-03 09:08 +1300
            Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 14:10 -0600
      Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 11:27 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 15:21 -0600
          Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 15:18 -0800
            Re: unicode is a fail raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-04 12:45 +0000
    Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 09:43 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-02 11:40 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 12:19 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail Nobody <nobody@nowhere.invalid> - 2015-12-02 21:23 +0000
    Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 10:12 +0100
      Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 02:13 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 14:11 +0100
          Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 05:17 -0800
            Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 15:33 +0100
              Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 07:05 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 16:42 +0100
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 07:58 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-03 10:38 +0000
        Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 14:17 +0100
      Re: unicode is a fail raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-04 12:54 +0000
        Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-04 14:25 +0100
          Re: unicode is a fail Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-04 13:46 +0000
  Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 23:24 +0000
    Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-03 00:45 +0000
      Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-02 20:59 -0600
      Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-02 19:13 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-03 07:00 +0000
        Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-04 04:45 -0800
          Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-04 18:04 +0000
        Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-04 13:22 +0000
          Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-04 07:35 -0800
          Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-04 19:17 +0000
            Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-04 11:49 -0800
              Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-04 15:39 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-04 14:19 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-06 12:57 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-06 15:47 -0800
              Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-05 01:13 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-05 01:59 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-05 17:17 +0100
                Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-06 06:28 +0000
            Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-04 23:46 +0000
              Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-05 01:04 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-05 03:21 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-05 13:03 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-05 11:47 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-05 04:40 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-05 13:26 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-05 13:35 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-06 02:23 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Udyant Wig <udyantw@gmail.com> - 2015-12-06 16:09 +0530
                Re: unicode is a fail Xavier <zaz.colmant@free.fr> - 2015-12-05 15:45 +0100
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-05 07:42 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-05 16:32 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-05 18:11 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-06 02:19 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-06 13:09 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Martin Shobe <martin.shobe@yahoo.com> - 2015-12-06 18:38 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-07 01:55 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-06 19:14 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-07 13:53 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-07 06:31 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-07 21:22 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-07 15:34 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-07 16:36 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Lowell Gilbert <lgusenet@be-well.ilk.org> - 2015-12-08 11:40 -0500
                Re: unicode is a fail Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-08 17:18 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2015-12-09 08:36 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-09 10:06 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-09 09:35 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-09 10:07 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-09 12:04 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-09 12:35 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-09 23:46 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-09 16:15 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-10 03:49 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-09 18:12 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-09 13:12 -0500
                Re: unicode is a fail Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-09 12:12 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-10 20:48 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-09 23:44 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-12-10 01:13 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-10 10:39 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-10 03:33 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-10 06:07 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2015-12-10 08:21 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-12-10 00:59 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-07 14:33 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-06 22:45 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-07 12:38 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-07 13:55 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-07 21:14 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-07 16:50 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-12-07 02:38 -0600
                Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-06 07:34 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-06 00:24 -0800
              Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-04 19:49 -0600
            Re: unicode is a fail Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-05 21:32 +0000
              Re: unicode is a fail Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-05 13:50 -0800
                Re: unicode is a fail Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-05 22:15 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-05 17:27 -0500
                Re: unicode is a fail Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-05 23:06 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-05 18:29 -0500
                Re: unicode is a fail Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-05 23:50 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-06 06:38 +0000
                Re: unicode is a fail raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-06 13:33 +0000
              Re: unicode is a fail James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-05 16:51 -0500
              Re: unicode is a fail Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-12-06 10:59 +1300
                Re: unicode is a fail Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-12-06 11:00 +1300
              Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-06 06:31 +0000
    Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-02 17:48 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-03 01:20 -0800
        Re: unicode is a fail fir <profesor.fir@gmail.com> - 2015-12-03 02:02 -0800
    Re: unicode is a fail Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2015-12-03 09:43 -0600
    Re: unicode is a fail raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-04 12:55 +0000
      Re: unicode is a fail Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-04 18:29 +0000
        Re: unicode is a fail Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 16:42 +0000
    Re: unicode is a fail Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 10:06 +0000
      OT: Usenet (Was: unicode is a fail) Steve Thompson <stevet810@gmail.com> - 2015-12-05 20:41 +0000
        Re: OT: Usenet (Was: unicode is a fail) Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-05 13:18 -0800
      Re: unicode is a fail Udyant Wig <udyantw@gmail.com> - 2015-12-06 10:21 +0530
        OT: Facebook (was Re: unicode is a fail) Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 08:51 +0000
          Re: OT: Facebook (was Re: unicode is a fail) raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-06 13:45 +0000

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