ietf-822
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re: We are using ISO-2022-JP *NOW*!

1994-12-02 22:57:53
<< Then these MUA's have been violating RFC 822 for years.
<
< I know that's a typical view of US-centric people who do not know the real
< world.
<
<< Mr. Ohta would have us believe otherwise, but his claims have been
<< disproven many times.
<
< Show us an example, or we regard your statement disproved.

Mr. Ohta,

It all boils down to whether you believe that RFC 822 specifies NET-ASCII or
US-ASCII. Several people have shown that RFC 822 specifies US-ASCII and the
author of RFC 822 concurs. You, however, persist in believing that RFC 822
specifies NET-ASCII.

In mathematical terms, this is an axiom upon which all else builds. You have
to believe in one axiom (US-ASCII) or the other (NET-ASCII). You can't
believe in both.

It's like trying to use Euclidian geometry in a non-Euclidian universe. If
you're not following the same exact set of axioms, things don't work the way
you expect them to.

If you believe that RFC 822 specifies NET-ASCII, then sending iso-2022-* in
a message is valid. If you believe that RFC 822 specifies US-ASCII, you
would consider all such iso-2022-* messages as invalid according to RFC 822.

The MIME spec was written using the axiom of US-ASCII. Those other MUAs were
written using the axiom of NET-ASCII. Only one axiom can be correct if the
two mail worlds are to interoperate. I believe that the US-ASCII axiom has
been proven as the correct interpretation of RFC 822.

                                        Tony Hansen
                            hansen(_at_)pegasus(_dot_)att(_dot_)com, 
tony(_at_)attmail(_dot_)com
                                att!pegasus!hansen, attmail!tony