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From: ccdn@levels.sait.edu.au (DAVID NEWALL)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: A suggestion: Remove dashes from signature
Message-ID: <283@levels.sait.edu.au>
Date: 30 May 89 11:37:58 GMT
References: <224@levels.sait.edu.au> <616@ispi.UUCP> <106806@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <618@ispi.UUCP>
Organization: Sth Australian Inst of Technology
Lines: 53

rIn <616@ispi.UUCP> Jonathan Bayer writes:
--
| +---- In <224@levels.sait.edu.au> DAVID NEWALL is paraphrased:
| | I'd like to see the two dashes that are put above the signature removed.
| +----
| Two points here.  First, the two dashes are used by some mailers and
| other programs to deliminate the end of the message.  If you remove
| the dashes then a program would have no way of knowing where the message
| ended and the signature began.
--     <----  (OK, I admit it looks ugly.  But I'm feeling pedantic)

No offense intended, but I think this is silly argument for keeping the
dashes.  Many programs are brain dead, but I see no reason to introduce
obnoxious features in elm, just to cater to them.  And anyway: how can
a program *reliably* remove signatures by looking for dashes?  Such a
program would remove *all* of this message!  (And I bet no-one would use
such a simple minded program, except in special cases).


> In article <106806@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> plocher@sun.com (John Plocher) writes:
> }+---- In <616@ispi.UUCP> Jonathan Bayer writes:
> }| Second, rn and/or postnews will not accept a .signature file with more
> }| than 4 lines in it.
> }
> }Then change rn - it *is* configurable.  Or better yet, shrink your signature.
> }This is NOT an ELM problem.
>
> While I have the source to rn, many people do not.  While shrinking a
> signature is a possibility, sometimes there is a valid need for 4 lines.

Isn't it safe to say that if people have access to the net, they also have
access to the source to rn?

Look!  This dashes thing: it's easy to resolve:  Let people put the dashes
in their signature file if they want them.  Then they can either have a
long (four lines, in rn) signature without dashes, or an ugly one with them.
:-).

But seriously, let's not put inappropriate features in elm, just because
they have been put in other programs.  I mean, that's the worst reason for
doing something.


> In article <106806@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> plocher@sun.com (John Plocher) writes:
>       The quote is a space filler.  It doesn't have to be there.

But there isn't room for dashes, huh?  (That was a low blow, wasn't it).


David Newall                     Phone:  +61 8 343 3160
Unix Systems Programmer          Fax:    +61 8 349 6939
Academic Computing Service       E-mail: ccdn@levels.sait.oz.au
SA Institute of Technology       Post:   The Levels, South Australia, 5095