>>>>> "Kade" == Kade Hansson <kade_fh@postoffice.utas.edu.au> writes:
> Andrew wrote yesterday, in reply to my objections:
>> you're objecting to stuff which has been in widespread use for a
>> very long time....
Kade> Which in no way means that it should not be the basis of
Kade> objection. Does the RFC state why 30 hyphens were needed?
which RFC? The MIME multipart/digest type (from RFC2046) can use any
delimiter, the 30 hyphens is just for compatibility with existing,
non-MIME-aware, software, and comes from RFC1153, dated 1990.
Kade> The central purpose of the RFC, as I see it, is to provide a
Kade> format for digest messages- that is multiple messages issued in
Kade> digest form- so that a mail reader may treat them as a group of
Kade> messages instead of a single message.
the purpose of the MIME RFCs is to define ways to describe the contents
of a message in such a way that clients can do useful things with it.
Since digests are commonly used, the MIME standard covers them.
The purpose of the USEFOR document (which is not yet an RFC) is to be
an updated standard for the format of Usenet articles.
Kade> My argument is that an FAQ is not a digest message because it
Kade> consists of a single message containing multiple sections
Kade> (which may be questions, or may be groups of sections or
Kade> questions).
Take a look at the existing collection of FAQs. Some are formatted as
("minimal") digests, e.g. the "Introduction to *.answers" FAQ itself,
and others are not formatted as digests (e.g. my own FAQ).
So this is a style issue that different FAQ authors have their own
views about.
No-one is suggesting that all FAQs should be formatted as digests.
Kade> That is my argument. You don't have to agree, but I would
Kade> appreciate it if you weren't so condescending in the future. I
Kade> would never tell you or anyone on this list to read the
Kade> introduction to "*.answers". We are supposed to be FAQ
Kade> maintainers, and I would suggest the contents of that document
Kade> are required knowledge.
I wasn't referring to the _content_ of the "Introduction to *.answers",
but to the fact that it happens to be formatted in minimal-digest layout.
It merely happened to be the first example I found....
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