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And, frankly, what’s wrong with using office to open/edit a text file? It works well enough, even if it is akin to using a 747 to get the current weather condit

And, frankly, what’s wrong with using office to open/edit a text file? It works well enough, even if it is akin to using a 747 to get the current weather conditions at altitude. (For the pilots, I know about pireps. That’s part of the analogy. ;)

jbaber 4y ago
Open, I guess. If you edit and try to save, you have to be careful not to add formatting characters.
- falcolas 4y ago
  You do, but most editors can force text output when saving. It does take some diligence though.
  - ad404b8a372f2b9 4y ago
    There are a couple of text editors that add a BOM character at the start of files when you save. I've spent so much time helping young programmers debug their code trying to read/parse those files. They get an error about an unexpected character at the start of the file but when they open it they only see normal text so they assume they're doing something wrong.
    - falcolas 4y ago
      BOM is a Windows specification. Its stupid, and most non-Microsoft editors don’t do it any more, but it’s a known hazard when on Windows.
ptx 4y ago
The point the article is making is that the entire concept of "plain text" is unfamiliar to non-technical people, so explaining that cookies are "text files" doesn't help them understand cookies.
- mmis1000 4y ago
  Isn't 'text files' alone enough? I haven't seen anyone not deal with documents in their entire life unless they can't read. It doesn't really matter if user understand how file in computer works or not. You still get the same conclusion even you think them as physical file. I give you a piece of paper, and you give me back when you come again. What's wrong with that?
  - ptx 4y ago
    The problem is that what we're attempting to explain is what kind of information is represented by the cookie. Saying that it's "text" only helps if the listener understands that this means "plain text" and what is meant by that term. If you give me a piece of paper folded into a hat, do you get the hat back from me? Not if what we mean by "a piece of paper" is "the information contained in the writing on a piece of paper where each number corresponds to a particular symbol in a table".
    - mmis1000 4y ago
      > corresponds to a particular symbol in a table". This part is also not the truth. The data on paper can be as simple as a serial number and valid signature. Take a real world example: concert ticket. Or digital example: jwt ticket. The paper with "something you don't care but they know" is a proper description in my opinion.

jbaber 4y ago

Open, I guess. If you edit and try to save, you have to be careful not to add formatting characters.

falcolas 4y ago
You do, but most editors can force text output when saving. It does take some diligence though.
- ad404b8a372f2b9 4y ago
  There are a couple of text editors that add a BOM character at the start of files when you save. I've spent so much time helping young programmers debug their code trying to read/parse those files. They get an error about an unexpected character at the start of the file but when they open it they only see normal text so they assume they're doing something wrong.
  - falcolas 4y ago
    BOM is a Windows specification. Its stupid, and most non-Microsoft editors don’t do it any more, but it’s a known hazard when on Windows.

ptx 4y ago

The point the article is making is that the entire concept of "plain text" is unfamiliar to non-technical people, so explaining that cookies are "text files" doesn't help them understand cookies.

mmis1000 4y ago
Isn't 'text files' alone enough? I haven't seen anyone not deal with documents in their entire life unless they can't read. It doesn't really matter if user understand how file in computer works or not. You still get the same conclusion even you think them as physical file. I give you a piece of paper, and you give me back when you come again. What's wrong with that?
- ptx 4y ago
  The problem is that what we're attempting to explain is what kind of information is represented by the cookie. Saying that it's "text" only helps if the listener understands that this means "plain text" and what is meant by that term. If you give me a piece of paper folded into a hat, do you get the hat back from me? Not if what we mean by "a piece of paper" is "the information contained in the writing on a piece of paper where each number corresponds to a particular symbol in a table".
  - mmis1000 4y ago
    > corresponds to a particular symbol in a table". This part is also not the truth. The data on paper can be as simple as a serial number and valid signature. Take a real world example: concert ticket. Or digital example: jwt ticket. The paper with "something you don't care but they know" is a proper description in my opinion.