> [In the beginning, there were *lots* of mail handling machines which dealt > with 7 bits only, so it's not as insane as it seems.]
kids... :-)
In the beginning there were lots of _machines_, never mind mail or
otherwise, that only understood 7 bits. ASCII is a 7-bit code. In the
beginning there were machines that didn't even understand 7 bits. Remember
BCD? >
> John (email: punched cards or paper tape, box, stamps ;-) )
And three-day job turnaround. Ah! Those weren't the days...
Suffice it to say, Phil's right, and just because one can receive mail with
lots of non-english characters doesn't mean that you can receive 8-bit mail.
My ISP correctly converts everything to 7-bit before sending it to me
because I didn't think to tell exim that I will accept 8-bit (since I don't
relay for anyone, that's not going to be a problem).
--
derek
