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[walter.truitt@usa.alcatel.com]

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>>>>> "Florian" == Florian Weimer <Florian.Weimer@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE> writes:


    Florian> Walter Truitt <wtruitt@ssd.usa.alcatel.com> writes:
    Florian> [Claims that MIME-PGP is ugly and unnecessary]

    >> Why is that a US-centered view?  I am in the US and agree that
    >> it is ugly, I just don't see exactly why it would be limited to
    >> here.  I just don't like the way it works with some of my email
    >> programs.

    Florian> In some regions of the world (actually, most), people
    Florian> can't write their native language in plain ASCII
    Florian> characters.  The clear-signing approach doesn't work
    Florian> reliable if there are non-ASCII characters, and MIME-PGP
    Florian> is a very straightforward solution.

    Florian> The assumption that all languages can be adequately
    Florian> represented in ASCII is certainly more common among
    Florian> people living in the US than, for example, among
    Florian> Frenchmen.

Ok.  I see your point.  My reasons for disliking it, as stated in a
previous email have to do with the fact that you can't check the
signature unless you have the email parts of the message (including
the headers) rather than just the signed part.

For example, an email that has only the text/plain part before it is
signed will become a multipart/signed afterwards.  This multipart
signed when saved using MH will have 752.1.txt and
752.2.pgp-signature (assuming message 752 in the example).  However I
cannot check the signature without adding to the text message the lines 
from the original message:

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

As well as that, I have to convert the message back to
quoted-printable.

Yes this has to do with the fact that I am not using a PGP/MIME aware
mail program, but why couldn't we just use something that creates a
canonical format file, sign it, and attach the file and signature to
the message (not as multipart/signed, but as multipart/mixed even).
The signature comment could even state if the signature referred to
part one, two or other.

The arguement you have about the message being corrupted when it is
not US-ASCII still works.

 -walter

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