Re: [Pan-users] underlines etc in pan

[Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom]

On Mon, Nov 11, 2002 at 01:30:39AM -0700, Duncan wrote:
> On Sunday 10 November 2002 19:05, Wolf J.Flywheel wrote:
> > [] I realize it's only cosmetic, but lots
> > of people use this pseudo-markup and so I would like to see Pan handle it.
> 
> You know... I prefer the original text smilies over graphical ones, and I 
> believe I prefer the original text /italics/, *BOLDFACE*, and _underlining_, 
> as well.  (I've never worked with a client that did it, so I'm not sure.)  It 
> just seems more /authentic/, and I never have to worry about the formatter 
> screwing up the rendering, or slow displays, or line wrap changes, or any 
> other related crap, either.

Simplicity is the hallmark of good design, and this is the primary reason I
object to adding this feature. I see little gain from it, and a great deal
of added complexity and 'creeping featurism'. I don't want to see Pan become
another MS Word, with more options than most people know what to do with.

Here's a counter-idea which may appease both camps. In the spirit of ESR's
'Art of Unix Programming' (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/taoup/), and
my idea of scripting plugins for Pan, how about a plugin filter script that
re-renders the text? for those of us who don't want the feature, we just
don't use the plugin; for those who want it, they use the plugin.
        this keeps the complexity contained and manageable, which vastly
increases reliability and customizability.

Carl Soderstrom.
-- 
Systems Administrator
Real-Time Enterprises
www.real-time.com