ietf-822
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Values of "MIME-Version"

1991-12-18 11:42:18
There has been some ambiguity and confusion about the "MIME-Version"
field, which is currently specified as being

MIME-Version: RFC-XXXX

Some people have assumed, as I originally intended, that "XXXX" would be
replaced with the number of the RFC.  Others have suggested that the
"XXXX" be retained literally, in commemoration of the name by which MIME
was so long known to those of us who've worked on it for so long.  

I like the rather whimsical quality of this idea; after all, there's no
rule that says version numbers have to be numeric.  However, I would
propose one additional clarification:  new MIME-Version values have to
be defined in a way that can be sequenced.  That is, it must be possible
to tell whether a given MIME-Version is older or newer than the one a
program expects.  Therefore, I would propose that all future values be
lexicographically ordered.  Thus a revised MIME standard might have

MIME-Version: RFC-XXXX-redux

or even

MIME-Versino: RIP-CORD

but not

MIME-Version: RAT-FINK

This makes the MIME-Version values functionaly equivalent to an ordered
sequence of non-integer numeric values, but much more entertaining. 
Comments?

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