DRAFT 95/11/21 --- Binaries --- This is an interesting issue in that as we fully join the World Wide Web (WWW) segment of the Internet, more and much more of the information we pass to and from the Internet (and each other) will be in binary form. With this thought in mind it seems that this whole creed of text over binary takes on a new angle. As the two become more and more interwoven as "the" communication medium, the distinction between them blurs and eventually must not exist. However, the proliferation of many image and other "dense" data types on the Internet and in particular the WWW means that without some guidelines to stem it, that prolific growth (in both popularity of some types of data, and the number of types) can easily monopolize our systems' resources, and that of our network. This policy fragment does not attempt to set more than the broadest of positions on binary data, and intentionally so; for when the day arrives that data is just data (not too far off), and text alone Just Doesn't Cut It Anymore, NCF should not be forced to climb out of another "technology hole" with respect to expertise and tools to handle "dense" binaries as opposed to nice easy text. Other policies (or guidelines in other form) will be necessary to guide us along the growth path. For example, NCF will need a rule preventing the distribution of erotic arts if it does not wish to be crashed on a regular basis due to net-perverts on the trail of a scent. ( 'Scent of a Woman' ? :) Also, other realities such as policies about what programs can be installed to execute and produce output on your web page, and the process by which they are okay'ed before being put up in public. ( I do not think this is a real concern as long as we use our current WWW server which does not allow it anyway) Anyway, without much discussion, here is what I came up with: "When, in the interests of the viability and/or workability of the services, content, or network of the NCF, a decision is required to be made between one form of data transfer/display and another, the NCF shall favour that option which uses text over that which does not." It is short, but remember, soon the concept of "text data" will be much more confined to email and news, and the "universal resource" will be the way things work on a user interface level. (URL stands for Universal Resource Locator) When the URL becomes the way we communicate on the Internet, NCF should not have to go through the 'pain' of starting out without tools and experience in binary information-handling. This policy reflects the only current reason we do not support (at least in my mind) 'binary information': because to do so would compromise our ability to provide our other services and content, which we feel to be more important. Of course, part of me wishes for more data to support this opinion. Anyone?