Keith Moore wrote:
It seems to me that we should be trying to solve real problems rather
than trying to invent new things that serve no purpose except to
disrupt the installed base.
There are several "real problems" that a new message format could solve.
For example, the use of an envelope container would certainly "fix" the
problem that we have now with feature blackholes. Currently, a single
legacy server between two DSN-aware systems prevents that service from
functioning, while an envelope block that contained this data as a
separate unit could survive these kinds of systems (not 821 hosts, but
hosts which were aware of the new format but which were unaware of a
particular envelope extension). Surely you consider these blackholes as
"real problems"?
If you want to do something useful for email, how about figuring out
how to make it really reliable, or spam-proof, or virus proof?
What I am thinking about is that we have an opportunity to do all of this,
as well as to fix several other problems. None of these issues alone
warrant an overhaul, but cumulatively they certainly do. Moreover, they
are actually feasible as part of an overhaul.
--
Eric A. Hall http://www.ehsco.com/
Internet Core Protocols http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/