Drapetomaniac

I filed a bug with Joomla about not accepting email addresses like testthis+symbol@example.com during install. My explanation was “e-mail systems accept this.” The initial response was “just because some systems accept it, doesn’t mean it is valid.”

True enough. Then again, if you restrict an email address, it doesn’t mean that restriction is valid.

I’m usually more specific in reporting bugs, but frankly I was ignorant as to whether or not it was valid when I filed the bug.

Plus symbols are valid.

RFC 822, 3696, 2822 and 2821 all refer to the standards for e-mail addressing. RFC 822was passed in 1982.

3696 summarizes:

“Without quotes, local-parts may consist of any combination of alphabetic
characters, digits, or any of the special characters

! # $ % & ‘ * + – / = ? ^ _ ` . { | } ~

period (“.”) may also appear, but may not be used to start or end the
local part, nor may two or more consecutive periods appear.”

Some good blog entries in plain English:
Email Address Format Myths
I Knew How To Validate An Email Address Until I Read The RFC
How to Find or Validate an Email Address

I have seen a lot of one line e-mail validators. If you want to see how off these are, check out Paul Warren’s partial example.

This is an old article about Microsoft Works 9.0, but it shows a good reason to support open formats.(something Microsoft would liek to undermine). It is a lesser version than Microsoft Office , a package essential meant as a low end version with less functionality.

Microsoft Windows also has a “lower end version” for scenarios like ” Developing Nations” for instance. They also hobble those versions with restrictions like not letting more than 3 programs run at the same time and restricting it to lower end chips and hardware. I guess a poor person in Brazil doesn’t need more than 3 programs like the ones in the US.

But, to the point, Works “uses different file formats than the .doc or .xls used by Word and Excel.” In other words, you type a document and Microsoft restricts your information and styling to a Works format. Outside of Microsoft using you to repeatedly capitalize your own work and ideas, you can use open formats like ODF in Google Docs, Open Office and other programs for free and use a different program at any time – taking your information with you. Open Source means Freedom – Open Documents means Freedom of Information, often your own information. Google capitalizes you again and again, but you arent at risk of losing functionality and access to your own information.