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Re: [Mutt] #2917: format/flowed messages are not properly filled



#2917: format/flowed messages are not properly filled

Comment (by pdmef):

 Replying to [comment:2 John Hawkinson]:

 > format=flowed messages are permitted to have fixed lines and flowed
 > lines. mutt should not wrap the fixed lines, especially when they are
 > under 80 columns in an 80-column window and wrap=0.

 By default, if you don't set $wrap, the limit is 77. I don't recall
 exactly why it's that number (maybe to leave some room below 80 for
 more quoting levels or for \r\n or...).

 The point is that when you explicitly set wrap to something other than
 0, you ask mutt to display text not wider than your limit. I'm afraid
 in these cases mutt will have to break all lines (all fixed-format mails,
 all fixed lines in flowed-format mails) in order to do what you configured
 it to.

 > Even were it the case that this were a badly-formatted format=flowed
 > message (which it is not), mutt should still try to display it
 > properly, in the "be liberal in what you accept" vein.

 Though I agree on the last part, I still think the mail is badly
 formatted.

 I don't see the point of composing a paragraph of text as fixed lines in a
 format=flowed mail while hoping and requesting everything to render well
 on the receiver's side.

 Being allowed to reflow text also includes to render it narrower than the
 sender intended and possibly causing ugly rendering. What if you were
 viewing the
 message on a device with less than 80 columns? It will look ugly again
 unless
 the sender adds proper spaces to make up reflowable paragraphs.

 Anyway, I'm kind of stuck on providing proposals on how to fix it, i.e.
 provide
 better defaults that fit most people...

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://dev.mutt.org/trac/ticket/2917#comment:3>