Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 19:16:03 +0200 From: Neil Blakey-Milner <nbm@rucus.ru.ac.za> To: Steve Friedrich <SteveFriedrich@Hot-Shot.com> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: building ports thru a firewall Message-ID: <19980827191603.A23260@rucus.ru.ac.za> In-Reply-To: <199808271610.MAA30663@laker.net>; from Steve Friedrich on Thu, Aug 27, 1998 at 12:08:53PM -0500 References: <199808271610.MAA30663@laker.net>
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On Thu 1998-08-27 (12:08), Steve Friedrich wrote: > >I think most of us use console-mode mailers, simply because they're faster > >and easier to use than their graphical equivalents. We further don't need > >HTML formatting in our mails, we can express ourselves pretty well with > >words, most of the time, and if we really wanted HTML formatting to express > >something, we'd give a URL to a web page, since that is where HTML belongs. > > Actually, URLs are the only html formatting appearing in my emails... > I am somewhat surprised that the majority aren't using a X windows mail > program.... I think you have to think about the lowest common denominator in such things, and that will be standard text. URL's are fine, they aren't HTML. I give references to URLs because sometimes things are just easier to explain by pointing to web pages. > >Incorporating HTML formatting into a text-mode client is rather silly, for > >the most part. Incorporating HTML formatting into a graphical client would > >be a much better idea, and there is work being done in this area. For now, > >however, I think that when we, as FreeBSD users, talking amongst ourselves, > >and with people interested in our Operating System (and it's an amazing one, > >at that), we'd prefer to talk in words and not a whole bunch of tags telling > >us what colour backgrounds to use, or text colouring and effects to produce. > > Please don't continue to think that "FreeBSD users" are people that use > FreeBSD exclusively. I've installed two machines at home with FreeBSD, I don't think that, especially since I work in a multiple OS environment, and use Windows 95 and especially Windows NT workstation quite a bit. I was just thinking that the FreeBSD users would be more likely to understand why HTML formatted email is not the prefered method. > but I'm still using PMMail on NT and OS/2, like I have for the last > several years. When I had seen Greg mention html is for web pages, not > email, I was specifically interested in defending URLs appearing in > email. You're mailers may support URL tage without supporting html, > but on other platforms/mailers, most people got both capabilities at > once, I believe, since their in a graphical env. URL tags are HTML (or whatever markup language you want), such as '<A HREF="http://www.freebsd.org/">'. Saying "Look at the FreeBSD webpage at http://www.freebsd.org/" is probably more helpful (due to the ease in which the eye/sensory perception picks up something when it's not enclosed by something else) in most cases. AFAIK, most graphical emailers, especially for Windows, will automatically turn that into a link to the page. > Let me get on my soapbox, just for a moment, and then I'll stop: > If you want to get FreeBSD into shops where they are biased towards > BillGatesWare, try the following: > 1. See if they'd like to turn an old 486/33 into a PPP Internet link > that can be shared by everyone in the office, instead of buying MODEMs > for everybody. If they need more bandwidth than a V.90 MODEM can > handle, configure an ISDN link. > 2. See if they's like a DNS that can cache names from the Internet and > resolve all local names as well. > 3. See if they'd like a free web server, for a local intranet, that > could later easily be hooked into the Internet > 4. See if they'd like a firewall made from older machines, no longer > viable as desktop GUI platforms. These are all already being done, I'm actively promoting FreeBSD as much as I can in my area of the world, and I know there are many other people who do so. However, I think that good "advertising" we get from newspapers, journals and similar sources are slightly more useful, and also the existance of FreeBSD consulting and maintenance companies make a lot of a difference. Companies prefer to spend money on something and receive some sort of assurance that somebody will fix it when it goes wrong, even if they could otherwise get it for free and be assured that it will just work and they'll never have problems. This is more a discussion for the FreeBSD advocacy list though, I imagine. > There are many, many more opportunities. Instead of bashing Microsuk, > let's convert people. Little by little. Painless and stable. I don't see much bashing of Microsoft these days, except by the more zealot-like Linux people I know. This is not to say that Linux people are generally like that, I just know a few. I know a FreeBSD "zealot too", and, of course, a Windows NT zealot (who has almost convinced me that Microsoft NT Workstation has a place in world). > Viva la FreeBSD... Indeed, but it's probably not the answer to everything. Yet. :> Neil -- Neil Blakey-Milner nbm@rucus.ru.ac.za To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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