Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

> > > > Sending big, non-text files via email is one of the things that
> > > > has served to wreck the email system. It makes it easy for
> > > > spammers and virus-spreaders and spyware-spreaders and the like.
> > > > And eats up bandwidth and clogs routers/gateways.
> >
> > Do you have a better idea for sending scanned copy, or photos?
>
> Putting the files on your website and sending them the link.
> Wget works in Windows, too.

The people who send me the scanned copy and photos often do not have 
websites.  I feel fortunate when they manage to scan printed copy without 
color and without converting to a low-quality jpeg, a DOC file, a TIFF, a 
fax format, etc.  Or scanning at 200 dpi or 1200 dpi.  When they send 
enormous photos I can shrink them at sdf with netpbm, before downloading.
> You can easily run an FTP server at home if you are on-line
> for the same hours every day. There are services that will
> give you the same IP regardless of what your real IP is. Takes
> client software to use.

I mean to find a small ftp server (wu_ftp?) so I can transfer files to and 
from a Windows computer over a network cable.  But the people I get files 
from do not even know what ftp is, let alone how to run a server.  Does 
Windows have an ftp server that is not buried in 100MB of other junk?

The files I return to people are under 50K (wordprocessor) and usually 
only about 10K or less.  People request them emailed back.  They also want 
WORD but put up with Wordperfect.

> > Spam is the big problem, not attachments.
>
> But having mail apps that process attachments make it easy for
> spam and trollmail (obscene photos and the like, disguised as
> something else) and viruses and worms and trojans and spyware and
> all sorts of cracking strategies to work.

Having computers allows people to send spam.
People download viruses from websites disguised as screensavers or music.

> Can't have your cake and eat it too.
>
> Wanna see a massive reduction in spam? Accept only plain-text
> mails with no attachments and limited size.

I would be out of business if I did that.  And also have to whitelist half 
the friends who email me and have no idea they are sending HTML.  I spent 
several paragraphs explaining to someone what HTML was and how my filter 
was throwing out her emails because it had HTML and her response was 'I 
just write back to the address the mail comes from'.  I filter on a lot of 
HTML tags such as embedded images and 3D.

I wish mail programs did not use HTML as the default.

The local Freecycle list is now sending out 20K mails full of Yahoo 
advertising (in HTML) so I can't save the mails.

> Lee
>
> --
> BasicLinux: Small is Beautiful
> http://www.basiclinux.com.ru
>
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keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org