Re: textmode not going away and mime security (was: Re: .mailcap and mutt

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Hi,

I find myself puzzled here. Mutt is a popular mailer on this list, yet 
it is characterized as not doing a decent job of handling a very popular
type of message. As it happens, I can't use Pine because it doesn't 
support POP (at least it looks that way from where I am on the steep 
learning curve). I've never heard of edbrowse but will check it out when 
I can.

Adding to the confusion, I get the feeling that other Mutt users 
generally have not had problems similar to mine, and I can't find the 
word "dump" anywhere in the htmlview script. Very strange. I wonder if 
I were using Screen instead of the naked Linux console if that would 
have made a difference.

As for the insurmountable difficulty of changing Linux to deep-six text 
mode, let's see: If there are a hundred text-mode modules running during 
boot-up (they REQUIRE text mode? My my!), and if there are a million 
Linux programmers, the difficulty is, as noted, truly insurmountable. NOT!

Lee

On Tue, Mar 25, 2003 at 11:59:57PM -0700, L. C. Robinson wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Mar 2003, Lee Maschmeyer wrote:
> 
> > I just discovered at least a partial cure for my
> > seeming inability to receive HTML messages, or
> > at least some of them. Often when trying to 
> > .... 
> > .
> > .
> > .mailcap file containing the following command:
>  
> > text/html; /usr/bin/htmlview -dump %s ; copiousoutput
> 
> The problem with that, is that you are letting any
> unknown email source run the htmlview shell script
> on your system, a serious security hole (it's well
> known that making shell scripts secure is
> difficult to the point of being impractical or
> impossible).
> 
> And html mail is inherently risky anyway -- I
> refuse to use browser based email clients for that
> reason, as do many other security conscious
> people.  If you really must view the html part of
> a message (usually deletion is the right option),
> why not use a text based email client that can do
> a decent job of rendering the text part of it,
> (like "pine", for instance), for that message?
>  
> > Whether we like it or not, Linux is going GUI,
> > folks.  Text mode is already a poor relation and
> > it'll get poorer, just as it did when DOS with
> > Windows ...
> 
> I'll answer this in faq format.
> 
> Question: The fear that the GUI will somehow
> obsolete the text mode environment comes up on
> this list from time to time, so I won't go into
> much detail ... again.
> 
> Answer: The text part of linux continues to get
> richer, with more apps, and will continue to do
> so: it can never go away.  It is absolutely
> essential, for many reasons, for all users.
> Search the list archives for more about why, read
> the blinux faq, which also gives some sense of
> why, however brief (someone should improve on
> that, and submit it Hans for inclusion, so that
> threads like this will disappear), and here:
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html,
> which should help with understanding the issues.
> GUI apps can never tap more than a small part of
> the real power available through the text,
> scripting, and utility environments (kind of like
> lego style building block program modules --
> hundreds of them are standard in any distribution,
> and who knows how many thousands are available on
> archive sites, with more every day -- you can't
> even boot normally without maybe a hundred or so
> of these running).
> 
> The consequence is that NOT having access to the
> GUI could actually lead on a fast track to
> superior competency and functionality for many
> users, though the learning curve is higher.  So a
> print-disabled/VI user may actually be a premium
> hire for an employer, in a linux environment: one
> of the things slowing the amazing rate of adoption
> of linux in the business environment is the
> shortage of competent linux knowledgable
> personnel, beyond the GUI.
> 
> LCR
> 
> P.S., Hans, if you want to include the last part
> of this answer in the FAQ, till something better
> shows up, it's fine with me.  Sorry I can't work
> it into more suitable form right now.
> 
> -- 
> L. C. Robinson
> reply to no_spam+munged_lcr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> People buy MicroShaft for compatibility, but get incompatibility and
> instability instead.  This is award winning "innovation".  Find
> out how MS holds your data hostage with "The *Lens*"; see
> "CyberSnare" at http://www.netaction.org/msoft/cybersnare.html
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx
> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list



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