From Newsgroup: news.software.readers


Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

You know those fancy ANSI art back in the golden
days of B.B.S., widely used in login and menu
screens?

I designed those screens while being co-sysop
of the Concerto BBS Group back then. :)

ansi art - Google uELo#i
<https://www.google.com/search?q=ansi+art>
--

@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
The game is afoot... Meow...

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

To: Mr. Man-wai Chang

Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote to

alt.comp.software.thunderbird,alt.bbs.ads,alt.bbs.general,news.software <=-

Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

I don't know the answer to that, but I think "no".

You know those fancy ANSI art back in the golden
days of B.B.S., widely used in login and menu
screens?

Yes, quite familiar that that. BBSes are still around, ya know.

I designed those screens while being co-sysop
of the Concerto BBS Group back then. :)

I'm writing this message from my BBS. :-)



... Gone crazy, be back later, please leave message.
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
Palantir BBS - telnet://palantirbbs.ddns.net
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:

Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

On 7/13/2026 11:43 PM, Schlomo Goldberg wrote:

"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:

Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

What happened to your colors? :)
--

@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
The game is afoot... Meow...
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

In news.software.readers,
Schlomo Goldberg <schlomo.goldberg@mailinator.com> wrote:

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

That's not looking good here:

https://qaz.wtf/tmp/screen-20260713-102045.png

What happened?

This, with escape sequences, doesn't display in my editor or newsreader,
I can see it with `cat` however.


ruo
ruoruoruaruaruaruoruoruoruoruoruoruaruaruarua ruEruoruoruoruaruAruAruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruaruarua ruoruoruoruoruoruo
ruoruarua
ruEruoruoruoruiruaruaruaruaruAruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruoruoruCruC ruoruoruoruoruAruAruoruoruoruoruo
rua ruAruoruoruoruoruEruaruaruaruaruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruorua
ruaruAruoruoruoruoruiruaruaruC ruCruAruAruAruoruoruaruo ruoruoruoruCruCruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruA ruaruAruAruiruAruoruoruEruAruAruoruCrui rui ruC
ruCruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruA
ruaruaruAruAruAruEruAruoruoruAruiruaruaruorui
ruEruaruAruAruAruAruAruA
ruaruaruaruaruarui ruAruoruoruE ruaruaruaruaruoruoruoruoruoruoruarua ruaruaruAruAruarui
ruaruaruaruaruaruaruCruC ruEruoruoruiruE ruoruoruoruoruoruoruAruA ruaruaruaruaruAruAruarua ruaruCruCruCruCruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruaruoruoruoruoruaruaruAruo ruoruoruoruoruAruAruAruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruAruarua
ruC ruaruaruaruaruaruCruCruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruiruaruaruaruAruAruAruAruoruoruA
ruoruAruAruaruiruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruarui ruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruarua ruCruoruoruoruoruAruaruaruaruaruAruAruAruoruo
ruEruAruAruAruaruaruiruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruarua
ruC ruCruCruCruaruaruaruaruarui ruCruoruoruoruaruaruaruaruAruAruoruo ruoruEruaruAruaruaruaruiruaruaruCruCruCruCruCruCruCrua
ruCruaruaruiruCruCruaruC ruCruCruorui
ruaruaruaruaruaruaruarua -+VS/ACiD-+
ruaruC ruCruCruCruCruCrua
ruE -+ P R O D U C T I O N S -+ 1 9 9 4 -+


Out of band alternative (UTF-8):

https://qaz.wtf/tmp/acid0594.ans

Elijah
------
the link works with `curl` for me
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> writes:

In news.software.readers,
Schlomo Goldberg <schlomo.goldberg@mailinator.com> wrote:

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua
ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua >> ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

That's not looking good here:

Must be your newsreader. Try another one, like Thunderbird. I assume
most TUI ones, like slrn, will work too (as long as they support
Unicode).

This, with escape sequences, doesn't display in my editor or newsreader,
I can see it with `cat` however.

ruo
ruoruoruaruaruaruoruoruoruoruoruoruaruaruarua ruEruoruoruoruaruAruAruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruaruarua ruoruoruoruoruoruo
ruoruarua
ruEruoruoruoruiruaruaruaruaruAruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruoruoruCruC ruoruoruoruoruAruAruoruoruoruoruo
rua ruAruoruoruoruoruEruaruaruaruaruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruoruoruoruorua
ruaruAruoruoruoruoruiruaruaruC ruCruAruAruAruoruoruaruo ruoruoruoruCruCruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruA ruaruAruAruiruAruoruoruEruAruAruoruCrui rui ruC
ruCruAruAruAruAruAruAruAruA
ruaruaruAruAruAruEruAruoruoruAruiruaruaruorui
ruEruaruAruAruAruAruAruA
ruaruaruaruaruarui ruAruoruoruE ruaruaruaruaruoruoruoruoruoruoruarua ruaruaruAruAruarui
ruaruaruaruaruaruaruCruC ruEruoruoruiruE ruoruoruoruoruoruoruAruA ruaruaruaruaruAruAruarua ruaruCruCruCruCruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruaruoruoruoruoruaruaruAruo ruoruoruoruoruAruAruAruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruAruarua
ruC ruaruaruaruaruaruCruCruoruoruoruoruoruoruoruiruaruaruaruAruAruAruAruoruoruA
ruoruAruAruaruiruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruarui ruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruarua ruCruoruoruoruoruAruaruaruaruaruAruAruAruoruo
ruEruAruAruAruaruaruiruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruaruarua
ruC ruCruCruCruaruaruaruaruarui ruCruoruoruoruaruaruaruaruAruAruoruo ruoruEruaruAruaruaruaruiruaruaruCruCruCruCruCruCruCrua ruCruaruaruiruCruCruaruC ruCruCruorui
ruaruaruaruaruaruaruarua -+VS/ACiD-+
ruaruC ruCruCruCruCruCrua
ruE -+ P R O D U C T I O N S -+ 1 9 9 4 -+

Interestingly, I can see colors (blue for the picture, gray for
signature) but the picture itself is mangled. And it seems that for
picture both foreground and background set to blue. In any case, there
is no way to make something like that to work across the board,
especially in case of modern (GUI) newsreaders. None of them support
escape sequences, as far as I know.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

On 2026-07-13, Eli the Bearded wrote:

In news.software.readers,
Schlomo Goldberg <schlomo.goldberg@mailinator.com> wrote:

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua
ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua >> ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

That's not looking good here:

https://qaz.wtf/tmp/screen-20260713-102045.png

What happened?

Looks like your client force wraps long lines...

In slrn it looks a bit like that in a small window, but hitting `W`
(toggle wrapping) fixes it.

Tavis.
--
_o) $ lynx lock.cmpxchg8b.com
/\\ _o) _o) $ finger taviso@sdf.org
_\_V _( ) _( ) @taviso
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

Schlomo Goldberg wrote in alt.comp.software.thunderbird,alt.bbs.ads,alt.bbs.general,news.software.readers:

"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:

Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

flnews can, although the colors are imposed (black on white, here).
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

Michael Uplawski <michael.uplawski@uplawski.eu> writes:

Schlomo Goldberg wrote in alt.comp.software.thunderbird,alt.bbs.ads,alt.bbs.general,news.software.readers:

"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:

Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

flnews can, although the colors are imposed (black on white, here).

There were no colors, and no ANSI escape sequences at all. Just Unicode
block symbols and spaces.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

Schlomo Goldberg wrote in news.software.readers:

Michael Uplawski <michael.uplawski@uplawski.eu> writes:

Schlomo Goldberg wrote in alt.comp.software.thunderbird,alt.bbs.ads,alt.bbs.general,news.software.readers:

"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:

Can Thunderbird display ANSI text within a message?

ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruCruC ruarueruerua ruarueruCruerua ruarueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruerueruCruerua ruarueruCruarua ruarueruerua
ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerua ruerue ruerue ruarua ruerueruCruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue ruerue
ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruC ruCruCruC ruCruC

flnews can, although the colors are imposed (black on white, here).

There were no colors, and no ANSI escape sequences at all. Just Unicode
block symbols and spaces.

Cool ;)
flnews can.
--
War, childrenrCa It's just a shot away,
It's just a shot awayrCa I tell you love, sisterrCa
It's just a kiss awayrCa ItrCOs just a kiss away
(The Rolling Stones rCo Gimme Shelter)
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.software.readers

On 7/17/2026 1:00 AM, Michael Uplawski wrote:

Cool ;)
flnews can.

flnews USENET newsreader
<https://micha.freeshell.org/flnews/doc/flnews.1.html>

Unless I misunderstood, Flnews Usenet Reader does not
decode ANSI escape codes.

ANSI escape code - Wikipedia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code>
--

@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
The game is afoot... Meow...
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2