Subj : Problem with filenames containing spaces
To   : All
From : Oli
Date : Wed Jan 19 2022 01:48 pm

James wrote (2022-01-18):

 de>> is not), but that is moot - if your software doesnt work with it, I
 de>> dont get why you wouldnt want to make it work with it, even if the
 de>> binkd development team werent interested in "fixing" it the way you
 de>> want it "fixed".

 JC> My software works fine with it, there is nothing I could possibly change.
 JC>  It handles all formats of escaping and its configurable per node.

"Configurable per node" was maybe a decent idea when the binkp FTS was written*. Today it's an unnecessary configuration option, bad UX, additional noise and an opportunity for misconfiguration. We know the few mailers that cannot cope with the standard \x##. I believe they all send the M_NUL VER command. Why not auto-detect the broken mailer and switch to the incorrect escape \## automatically?

Per node configuration does not work for all use cases. Let's not forget that there is a nodelist and we can connect to most nodes directly without the need to explicitly configure anything for that node. The nodelist also does not tell me, which software is answering the connection. Per node configuration is a flawed and ugly workaround.

Is there any other mailer than Argus and Irex that doesn't understand \x##?


* I believe the inclusion of \## in FTS-1026 was more harmful than it did any good in the long term.

 * Origin: Birds aren't real (2:280/464.47)

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