4 ms·

Then you are better off using some format that can stand alone as a file such as PDF. If it is a reference document that is intended to be edited on an ongoing

Then you are better off using some format that can stand alone as a file such as PDF. If it is a reference document that is intended to be edited on an ongoing basis it is better to use something like a wiki. Having to root around in your email to find a reference document is pretty inefficient and annoying.

wongarsu 7y ago
All of the reasons given against HTML emails hold at least equally well against PDF: it's a vector for phishing and tracking, ripe with client vulnerabilities, less accessible and not displayable on a terminal. For me as a reader having to read both an E-Mail and the attached PDF is also annoying, and many people will simply skip reading the PDF.
- throw0101a 7y ago
  > For me as a reader having to read both an E-Mail and the attached PDF is also annoying, and many people will simply skip reading the PDF. See also embedding (e.g.) a JPEG in a Word document and then attaching that Word document to an e-mail.
  - na85 7y ago
    I've seen so many Word or PPT documents with a single hyperlink in them, uploaded to SharePoint with filenames like "process_manual_2013_v3.2.doc"... Ugh.
    - throw0101a 7y ago
      Just ran across this: an HTML e-mail that is only a link (i.e., HTML <head> refresh): * https://old.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/ch83sz/why_the_hell_is_sending_html_files_via_email_only/ https://old.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/ch83sz/why_the_he...
- upofadown 7y ago
  If you have an employee generating phishing and tracking reference PDFs in your organization then you really have a personnel problem.
lawn 7y ago
We send syntax highlighted code all the time via email at my job. I hope you're not suggesting we should use PDF instead? And no, creating snippets on a wiki is also an extra unnecessary step. Email is just easier and faster.
- upofadown 7y ago
  Syntax highlighted code can hardly be considered a "reference document".
  - bgdnyxbjx 7y ago
    For the life of me I can’t remember the syntax for a particular thing I do in the JavaScript console at work. Someone showed me the trick in an email about seven years ago and about once a month I need to do this thing so I search my inbox for the email so I can remember the syntax.
- sterkekoffie 7y ago
  It might be "easier and faster" to send an email than to, for instance, upload to a dedicated snippet manager, but literally everything after than that is slower and more difficult.
- adtac 7y ago
  why not let people syntax highlight the way they want? some people dislike syntax highlighting, some like high contrast highlighting, some like blue-tinted highlighting, etc. why do you get to decide for everyone what colour strings should be? send the plaintext code snippet and they'll decide.
C1sc0cat 7y ago
And if its a reference document it should be in source control and properly versioned - not to go all BS5750/ISO 9000 here :-)

wongarsu 7y ago

All of the reasons given against HTML emails hold at least equally well against PDF: it's a vector for phishing and tracking, ripe with client vulnerabilities, less accessible and not displayable on a terminal. For me as a reader having to read both an E-Mail and the attached PDF is also annoying, and many people will simply skip reading the PDF.

throw0101a 7y ago
> For me as a reader having to read both an E-Mail and the attached PDF is also annoying, and many people will simply skip reading the PDF. See also embedding (e.g.) a JPEG in a Word document and then attaching that Word document to an e-mail.
- na85 7y ago
  I've seen so many Word or PPT documents with a single hyperlink in them, uploaded to SharePoint with filenames like "process_manual_2013_v3.2.doc"... Ugh.
  - throw0101a 7y ago
    Just ran across this: an HTML e-mail that is only a link (i.e., HTML <head> refresh): * https://old.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/ch83sz/why_the_hell_is_sending_html_files_via_email_only/ https://old.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/ch83sz/why_the_he...
upofadown 7y ago
If you have an employee generating phishing and tracking reference PDFs in your organization then you really have a personnel problem.

lawn 7y ago

We send syntax highlighted code all the time via email at my job. I hope you're not suggesting we should use PDF instead? And no, creating snippets on a wiki is also an extra unnecessary step. Email is just easier and faster.

upofadown 7y ago
Syntax highlighted code can hardly be considered a "reference document".
- bgdnyxbjx 7y ago
  For the life of me I can’t remember the syntax for a particular thing I do in the JavaScript console at work. Someone showed me the trick in an email about seven years ago and about once a month I need to do this thing so I search my inbox for the email so I can remember the syntax.
sterkekoffie 7y ago
It might be "easier and faster" to send an email than to, for instance, upload to a dedicated snippet manager, but literally everything after than that is slower and more difficult.
adtac 7y ago
why not let people syntax highlight the way they want? some people dislike syntax highlighting, some like high contrast highlighting, some like blue-tinted highlighting, etc. why do you get to decide for everyone what colour strings should be? send the plaintext code snippet and they'll decide.

C1sc0cat 7y ago

And if its a reference document it should be in source control and properly versioned - not to go all BS5750/ISO 9000 here :-)