Hej August!

 AA> Maybe the UTF-8 echo would be best for these tests.

If I was looking to restrict tests to ONLY utf8 then I'd agree.  I started the latest tests wrt creating little endian data for the headers (pkt and msg) using bash and only got sidetracked when discovering potential bugs regarding utf8 characters and word wrapping, especially right-to-left languages such as Hebrew.

This particular echoarea looks to be far less restrictive in scope which I believe is a plus in it's favour as the proper place for the usage of linux apps in today's complex and diverse network known as Fidonet ... or what is left of it.

Het leven is goed,
Maurice

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... Fidonet 1080p - De vier pingu‹ns van de Apocalyps
--- GNU bash, version 5.2.26(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)