> Beyond the fact that using TELNET across public networks is
> definitely a no no,

This "fact" is actually false.

What *is* a no-no is to use telnet over public networks to access
anything for which login information exists and the cost of its
compromise is more than trivial.  (Remote login to general-purpose
computers with resuable passwords is perhaps the commonest example.)

But, for example, I co-run a mud, and plenty of peopple use telnet to
connect to it.  If connecting to a guest character, there is absolutely
nothing wrong with this; when connecting to a non-guest character,
there is some chance of the password being sniffed, but the value of
such a thing to the putative sniffer is so low that the risk is
normally ignored (and, indeed, as far as I know we have not had even
one instance of such a compromise in the 14 years and some months we've
been open).

You can also use telnet to connect to a whois server, or any of endless
other resources, without risking anything at all.

> is there any way to work around the <CR><LF> or 'double return' issue
> that seems to plague Windows 2K/XP users?

I'm not familiar with that one.  The major problem I know of with
Windows telnet is that whoever wrote it apparently did not understand
that the client is respnosible for input line editing unless both ends
specifically neogtiate otherwise.  In particular, backspace does not
work unless the thing you're connected to handles it.  I actually had
to hack special-case code into the mud to deal with this, it bothered
our players so much; if you tell it "STUPID-WIN Y", the mud will
attempt to compensate for this braindamage.  It succeeds, mostly.

I don't know whether this is what's hurting you.  It could be that
whatever you're connecting to is turning on and off character-at-a-time
mode, and the Windows client is ignoring it, and that is the root if
your problem.  Or it could be something entirely different....

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