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Re: How to display format=flowed (and other topics)?



On Thu, Oct 13, 2005 at 07:56:48AM +0200, Thomas Roessler wrote:
> On 2005-10-12 14:42:55 -0400, Derek Martin wrote:
> 
> > The problem, Thomas, is that you are making a completely
> > arbitrary decision as to what is the most readable, and forcing
> > it on the users.
> 
> The decision is roughly as arbitrary as the decision to have columns
> in newspapers, 

The difference is that newspapers are not configurable.  They are
designed to maximize the ease of laying out multiple stories with
numerous advertisments, and the columnar layout with short lines is
the most efficient way to do that.  Hopefully, you have no plans to
add support for ads in Mutt...  ;-)

> Hint: These decisions are generally based on the experience that
> shorter lines are much easier to read than longer lines.

Well, FWIW, if I open up my window to 132+ columns, I find neither to
be easier to read than the other.  But I do find the additional space
left in my window by the 70-column lines to be kind of annoying.

I personally prefer to work with lines that are about 80-columns, but
that does not mean everyone else does, or should.

-- 
Derek D. Martin    http://www.pizzashack.org/   GPG Key ID: 0xDFBEAD02
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