VS> Yes, I did not realize that RMX was based on the notion that I've
VS> previously characterized as stuffing the Internet back into the old
VS> big BBS model favored by AOL. Forcing users to pick an ISP and stick
VS> to it is characteristic of a BBS or bulletin board system. It has
VS> many attractions for some ISPs but not for others. Many users were
VS> happy with BBS's, but some weren't and would not be.
Vernon,
Every email now should have a From: header, with a sender at a real,
existing domain. RMX doesn't change that. If you have a mail server
separate from your ISP, you probably use POP or IMAP to retrieve your
messages from it; your ISP merely provides the connection. You could also
configure the machine to act as an SMTP server, in which case your outbound
mail would also pass through it. Again, your ISP merely provides the
connection. The RMX record for that server would be its IP address, /32.
If you have multiple accounts at many different domains, your ISP would
carry the messages to and from each one, instead of merely from each one and
to wherever you happen to be sending mail.
The effect of RMX is to give domain owners a way to prevent third parties
from making email appear to come from them. It has no bearing on who owns
or operate domains. Nor does it, so far as I can tell, "forc[e] users to
pick an ISP and stick to it." Any ISP capable of getting the packets to and
from your mail servers will do.
VS> Have you considered Paul Vixie's version of RMX? Given the premise
VS> of requiring users to have a "home sending MTA," why isn't Paul's the
VS> obvious and only reasonable instantiation of the idea? What do new
VS> RRs buy that do not come from MX records, except a lot of problems?
If I understand his proposal correctly (and with all due respect to Paul),
the main problem is that a lot of domains don't obey this convention yet,
and you have no way to know which ones do and which ones don't. So you
can't make very strong decisions based on it. That's why you accept email
from cyndi(_at_)hotmail(_dot_)com, even if it obviously arrives from a
third-party IP
address.
RMX records give us an upgrade path--a domain declares that it now conforms
to this convention by setting up an RMX records.
Mike
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