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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!decwrl!sun!plx!adams
From: adams@plx.UUCP (Robert Adams)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: cleaning up the net -- software solutions proposed
Message-ID: <163@plx.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 18-Jul-85 13:07:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: plx.163
Posted: Thu Jul 18 13:07:48 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Jul-85 09:44:20 EDT
References: <2961@nsc.UUCP> <982@sdcsvax.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Plexus Computers; San Jose, CA
Lines: 20

The discussion keeps mentioning signature line when talking
of "garbage".  The ".signature" processing is, I think, a mistake.
My evaluation of the information we receive on the net is that
25% of the characters are in the header of all messages and
little is in the signature overall.  I would propose (are the
"next version" of mail people listening?) that there be a
"Disclaimer:" line added to the header that can be site dependantly
added (we get some lawyer to write the standard one line disclaimer)
so it would appear in all messages from that site.  Then add
a "USPOST" environment variable that give the US posting address
that will be included in the "USPost:" header line.  With these,
then a followup is posted, the person gets dropped into vi
(or whatever) and a signature line(s) are constructed from the
header.  He/she enters their response and the poster strips the
signature info from the message (since the info ins already
in the header) and posts the message.
   The direction of all this is that most of what appears in the
signature lines is already in the header.  If we add a few more
header lines, we could build a signature that would please most
people.