It's part of the hacker culture and values. "Hacker" in this case refers to the original definition of the term originating at the MIT Tech Model Railroad club

It's part of the hacker culture and values. "Hacker" in this case refers to the original definition of the term originating at the MIT Tech Model Railroad club: http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/hackers.html http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/hackers.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech_Model_Railroad_Club https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech_Model_Railroad_Club http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html http://www.paulgraham.com/college.html http://www.paulgraham.com/college.html >> Where did this preference for plain text at the expense of all else come from anyway? It stems from the clarity of text in communication and the use of textual formats and protocols in Unix and the early Internet. http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch05s01.html http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch05s01.html