The Great "Hard Return" Debate

[Steve Lamb]

Tuesday, November 02, 1999, 9:24:07 PM, Marty wrote:
> I never did understand this line of reasoning -- especially from OS/2 users.
> Don't we venerate doing business in platform/software neutral ways?

    Whenever possible, yes.  CRs fall into that.

> Hard returns only look good at "small" widths and get worse with every
> quoted reply. It puts the recipient at the mercy of not even the original
> sender, but the random settings of everyone along a thread.

    First off, lets talk about quotes.  Tell me, how would you do a multi line
quote without CRs?  You are aware that a lot of clients will *correctly* place
a single quote marker for a whole paragraph.  Do you really think that looks
proper?  I don't.  That means the choice, at some point, must be made for line
breaks so that quoted material remains quoted.

> You wouldn't have to stretch to accomdate the email -- it look good at any
> size to which you stretch your window.

    Amazing.  Didn't you just say that CRs looked good only on "small" widths.
Why would you stretch to a "small" width?  Could it be because you're using a
"small" width?

> Am I missing something here?

    Yes, 20+ years of history & quoting for starters.

-- 
         Steve C. Lamb         | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
         ICQ: 5107343          | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
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