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Re: [ietf-dkim] Moving to consensus on draft-ietf-dkim-rfc4871-errata

2009-03-10 20:03:04


Jim Fenton wrote:
I have a particular problem with the term "User Agent Identifier (UAID)" 
because it doesn't necessarily represent a user agent -- it could, for 
example, represent a mailing list manager.  I greatly prefer the term 
"signing identifier" (which replaces signing identity) because it covers the
 range of use cases more completely.


One of the tricks in choosing labels is to make sure they each have useful 
meaning, but also that they are different enough to avoid confusion.  Labels 
are 
intended to have mnemonic benefit.

The two labels in the current Errata draft are defined as:

Signing Domain Identifier (SDID)
...
the identity claiming responsibility for the introduction of a message into 
the mail stream.

and

User Agent Identifier (UAID)
...
the user or agent on behalf of whom the SDID has taken responsibility.


Note that the latter definition is taken from the existing RFC4871 text:

Identity of the user or agent (e.g., a mailing list manager) on behalf of
which this message is signed


So the UAID term reflects the exact language of RFC 4871 that defines the 
identifier:  user or agent.

If the term is changed to "signing identifier" it will be semantically wrong 
and 
mnemonically confusing.  Wrong because it's not the domain doing the signing, 
per the definition of SDID, and confusing because the term is almost identical 
to SDID.

d/

-- 

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg InternetWorking
   bbiw.net
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