On 24 Sep 91 14:41:52 EDT, David Robinson wrote:
Just what does "Just declare 8-bit mailers more functional." really
mean?
It really means that 7-bit mailers, which can't pass 8-bit messages
*TODAY*, won't be able to do so tomorrow either. (If you want the
new functionality, you'll have to upgrade your mailer and any that
you route through. But, if you don't want the new functionality,
you don't have to do anything.)
I'm sorry, it you run unsupported software, you always face this
problem.
This is the typical sort of moronic comments that have come out of Prime in
the past several months. I hope that everyone sees these, and remembers them
the next time a Prime salesman comes around -- or when one of these guys comes
to you looking for a job.
When I was in college, back in the Dark Ages of computing, we called this
attitude `systems programmer arrogance.' The most notable symptoms were
repeated major incompatibilities inflicted upon the world and a "if you don't
run the latest whiz-bang software I wrote it's your own tough luck" (or it's
alternative, "I am not interested in supporting that old piece of junk")
response to the compatibility issue. Often the `old piece of junk' and the
`obsolete software' were the very things the same systems programmer called
the latest and greatest a year earlier.
Get real. The functionality of an MTA is *not* a local issue. Unlike UA's,
there is a commonality among MTA functionality since the entire infrastructure
is no better than its least functional link.
Repeat, THE FUNCTIONALITY OF AN MTA IS NOT A LOCAL ISSUE.
E-mail is a form of commerce, and as with all other forms of commerce there
are standards which can not be unilaterally ignored.