Time for 8 bit news, isn't it? - Haven't got the slightest

[Wm E Davidsen Jr]

In article <1092 at mpirbn.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de> p576spz at mpirbn.UUCP (S.Petra Zeidler) writes:
| In article <1990Jul21.174535.8281 at lokkur.dexter.mi.us> scs at lokkur.dexter.mi.us (Steve Simmons) writes:
| >Hey, news is ASCII-based, written in english-speaking countries for
| >english-speaking readers.
| 
| Hey back,
| I don't think so at all; if I read the authors' names and origins, it seems to
| me that no mean part of postings to the world-wide newsgroups is NOT written
| in English-spoken countries. 

   I think you are confusing authors with posters. The authors are the
people who wrote wrote news and gave it away. Posters are people who
can't write anything but flames, and complain about the craftmanship
when they have trouble using a screwdriver for a pipe wrench.

| It is the US American "We Are The World, all the others are just the miserable
| exotic rest" attitude all over again.

  Here's the heart of it, news was developed in the USA, for use in the
USA, and given to the rest of the world. Now people who have contributed
nothing are not just politely saying that the situation could be
improved, but rudely saying that Americans have an attitude problem.

| Believe me, there is a world, and yes, even netting outside of the US
| (ever heard of eunet for example ?).

  What sites give away the eunet software, and if it's so much better
than usenet software, why isn't everyone using it? Could it be that
eunet runs on American software?

  If the people with the problem would concentrate on either (a) writing
their own software instead of complaining about what we gave them, or
(b) contributing some technical insight to the problem instead of
posting rambling flames about how bad American attitudes and software
are, the problem might get solved sooner.

  As far as I know the only character which doesn't go through news in
eight bit format is escape, because that messes up a lot of terminals.
News sent via uucp can (and does in most cases) go in compressed format,
using eight bit paths. The technical issues are in readers and display
devices, where ASCII displays need the high bit filtered to prevent
assorted bad effects.

8 bit data <-- 
bill davidsen	(davidsen at crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen)
            "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me