Imagine a future in which you can send mail to anybody, anywhere;
long as thy're connected, no matter how thy're connected.
I can't see how to get to that future from where I am today but
it is a possible future. What needs to happen make that future
possible? All you need is an address; "aye, there's the rub".
Addressing across mail system boundaries is complicated.
There are lots of mail systems, directories, and gateways today;
no one of them is about to take over the world (they'd all like
to, though ;-). We will live for a long time in this situation
and by providing some direction now we can make a future we envision
possible.
The growth of electronic mail will require making addressing
easier. Adding gateways seems to make addressing harder not easier.
So it is natural to ask, is there a better way? In the discussions
I've had on this subject no clear solution has popped up, but everyone
seems convinced this is an important but difficult problem. I'm
not sure there is a solution; maybe there's a range of them,
maybe some guidelines; perhaps a direction that leads to easier
addressing.
This is an invitation participate in addressing the issues of
addressing. We can begin by trying to define the problem,
by outlining the scope (What is the universe of addressing
schemes?), and by examining the technologies (gateways are one)
that can be applied and their limitations.
I propose a mailing list (email-addr(_at_)pica(_dot_)army(_dot_)mil) to
begin addressing adddressing. If you are interested, send a sub-
scription request email-addr-request(_at_)pica(_dot_)army(_dot_)mil or to me
(levinson(_at_)pica(_dot_)army(_dot_)mil).
Best.../Ed
Please forgive the cross postings. I've kept this announcement short
and done my best to see that you won't receive any more mail on this
subject unless you subscribe.