[Leica] WinMail.Dat attachments

[pieter@world.std.com (Pieter Bras)]

Jim Arnold <jim@ohio.com> wrote:

>There are people on this list who keep sending WINMAIL.DAT attachments.
>I'm sure they have no idea they are doing it.
>
>Here is how to deal with them.
>
[lengthy instructions snipped]

I hope instructions like this can do a little good, and at least reduce
the amount of clutter that now finds its way into the LUG digest and
subscribers' e-mail in-boxes, but this is basically tilting at windmills.
It's unrealistic to to expect today's typical PC user to become adept
at configuring complicated e-mail programs.  As you say, most have no
idea what they are actually doing.  In the last couple of weeks I have
seen two different individuals send "subscribe" messages (to the list,
unfortunately) burdened with complete sets of MIME multipart message
information, and with HTML attachments thrown in for good measure.
Needless to say, the messages did not have their intended effect.

The problem is not with the users, who shouldn't have to become
computer nerds in order to participate in LUG discussions, but with the
way the list is set up.  There ought to be a way to set up a mailing
list where some standard processing of incoming messages is performed:
MIME-compliant messages should be recognised for what they are, and
reduced to a simple plain-text message.  Programs that can take apart a
MIME message, such as "munpack", have been available for years.

The problem is going to get worse as more and more just-plain-folks use
MIME-enabled mailers.  The place to deal with the problem is at the list
manager level, which must lag current real-world email practice by at
least 15 years.

Come to think of it, perhaps it is I who is tilting at windmills here.

- -- 
Pieter Bras