Re: [boost] A demonstration of why horrendous error messages can destroy usability

Subject: Re: [boost] A demonstration of why horrendous error messages can destroy usability
From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-12-11 16:37:52

On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Daniel James <dnljms_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> On 11 December 2011 15:27, Olaf van der Spek <ml_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>> On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 3:51 PM, Gregory Crosswhite
>> <gcrosswhite_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>>> Hmm, I actually did (I just checked my sent box to confirm this), but somehow it got dropped.  I'll try attaching it a text file at the end rather than a ZIP file this time.
>>
>> Mailing lists don't like attachments.
>> Try pastebin or so.
>
> We generally prefer attachments to pastebin because they will be
> archived better. I've never had any trouble with them. Gregory, it
> looks like you're using Apple Mail to send them. It might be that the
> list software doesn't like the way Mail handles attachments (it does
> an odd inline thing), you might have more luck with gmail's web
> interface.

Also, Boost has a 75K limit on the size of attachments to protect
those with slow email connections. As a courtesy, you might do far
better to post the 7zipped error message on the web, and just point
people to it.

--Beman