OT: What font settings?

In article , snipped-for-privacy@emailo.com says...>

Fonts should be Courier (the "new" part doesn't matter). Ditch Outhouse Excess.

I've tried to break away from O.E. but when I tried I got bogged down somehow. Perhaps because of the unfamiliarity of the new client. I tried Agent.

Seconded on ditch the MS crapper. A proper proportional font makes for easy reading. If you use a Mozilla project mail/news client, for ASCII art & diagrams, just click 'view source' to see the post in a fixed font.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@emailo.com says...>

You might try Gravity. It's pretty easy to set up and use. I'm in process of switching gom Gravity to Agent 5.0 and it is strange in a lot of respects.

There is no excuse for Outhouse Excess.

I think a lot of people when sending emails in newsgroups post in proportional font. Yet, I think fixed-width font should be used when simple diagrams are used.

So, should I post in fixed with font when sending diagrams?

Or should I, or can I post in proportional font?

The reason I ask the second question is, I think an email client can show an email recieved in the font of your choosing.

And if that is the case, can't everyone post in proprtional font, yet at the receiving end choose to view in fixed-width font?

I'm just wondering what the convention is, on email client settings, when folks send diagrams in their text.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@emailo.com says...>

You can use whatever font you choose. The Usenet is a text medium, so the font doesn't come through. However, if *you* create a drawing in a proportional font, no one will see it the same. A fixed font really must be used for drawings. You can view text anyway you choose. I prefer to just stick with Courier for everything.

Absolutely!

You only post in text. It's up to the reader to view according to his preferences. The only time it matters is when information is conveyed in the spacing (e.g. drawings and lists). These should always be created in a fixed font.

Yes. The Usenet is *not* email. There is no font information, nor should there be an attempt to provide font information, in the Usenet text. It is text *only*.

Yes, but any drawings or lists will be messed up because there is information in the white space.

Drawings should *always* be in a fixed font so everyone can view them (they really can't even be created in a variable font). Text can be any way you choose to view it. The viewer doesn't know what your font settings are and doesn't care.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@nospambresnan.net says...>

M$ crapware explains most problems, but evidently you just found another.

You don't get to choose a font when posting, unless you're posting HTML (which you shouldn't).

You should use a monospace (fixed-width) font for *composing* messages, as that's most likely to match what people use to view your posts.

If you use a proportional font for composing messages, even if people view your posts with a proportional font, it isn't going to look right unless they view your posts with *the same* font which you used.

OTOH, monospace fonts are all equal. If you compose using e.g. Terminal and someone views your message using Courier, it will still work.

The convention on usenet is plain text (no HTML), which doesn't provide any mechanism to specify a font. The person viewing chooses the font, and the only way that ASCII-art, tables, etc will work in general is if messages are both composed and viewed using a monospace font.

This is why the command prompt, text editors, etc normally use monospace fonts, and why a monospace font is the default for viewing plain text email.

Try Thunderbird, It's free, and also does email.

And I concur with others - uninstall Butthook Distress.

Have Fun! Rich