ietf-nntp Collected minor issues

[Charles Lindsey]

In <ylfzpikl55.fsf at windlord.stanford.edu> Russ Allbery <rra at stanford.edu> writes:

>>>> 8.6.5.2. Description (LIST NEWSGROUPS)

>>>>   The newsgroups file is normally tab-delimited.  Change "by one or
>>>>   more US-ASCII space characters" to "by one or more US-ASCII space or
>>>>   tab characters."

>>> One could go even further and mandate TABs, or at least SHOULD be TABs.

>> Given the contents, I can see no justification for a MUST and I'm not
>> convinced there's even an interoperability issue here. It's more an
>> Ought (to use Usefor terminology).

>Even more than that, spaces are also in widespread use.  I don't see a
>need to prefer one or the other.

Tale always insisted that TABs should be used, and that is what Usefor
says. But I agree that it is Usefor's job to make the rule here, so the
most that NNTP should say is either it SHOULD be a TAB, or a Note that TAB
is the usual practice. Certainly liberal software should accept spaces.

-- 
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
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