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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watcgl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!watcgl!dmmartindale
From: dmmartindale@watcgl.UUCP (Dave Martindale)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: FYI: underlining/highlighting in news articles
Message-ID: <669@watcgl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 5-Dec-84 10:13:32 EST
Article-I.D.: watcgl.669
Posted: Wed Dec  5 10:13:32 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 6-Dec-84 03:07:08 EST
References: <2@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 24

> (6) The fact that the  feature  exists in  the  news software indicates that
> somebody somewhere for some reason thought it would be a good, neat,  useful
> idea. I happen to agree. That  person added  it. I'm glad. Evidently, it was
> not implemented fully, in that not all terminals which can be used with  the
> news software can deal with it.  I  have  one flame in my mail which objects
> LOUDLY  to the fact that it has hung up their terminal. Now I'm not so  glad
> any more. (I don't even know what type of terminal it was; just keep it away
> from me.)  With all the due respect that I can muster for the news  software
> authors, let this be a lesson to you about half-implementations of features.
> If you can't do it *completely*, please be kind and don't do it *at all*.

The news system is evolving, and always has some partly-implemented
or buggy features in it.  If you insist on stable, fully-implemented software,
I suggest you simply not read news for another several years, at least.

Besides, the "news software" does NOT handle highlighting as a feature.
B news is just tolerant enough not to throw away backspaces in its input;
this may be changed at some point in the future.  RN, perhaps, may handle
the highlighting, but that isn't part of the standard news distribution.
Readnews may send articles over a certain length through more(1) on systems
that have it, but not all do.  So please don't assume that because a
feature works on your machine it is a standard, designed-in feature.

	Dave Martindale