7- vs. 8-bits

Tue Dec 17 06:04:29 UTC 1996

About 7- vs. 8-bit codes:

I would like to put in a plea here for those (like myself)
who have to put up with primitive e-mail systems like those
here in India. The system I use (VSNL) is totally 7-bit,
i.e. words containing characters above ASCII 128 become
distorted (e.g. "Qu=E9bec" is the name of a Canadian
province). Writing French is already unpleasant; it seems to
me that writing transliterated 8-bit Indian would be simply
confusing. (I do not think we may count on the Indian
internet providers to upgrade their technology soon.)

Robert Zydenbos