Philip,
RMX mechanisms require registering the MTA. That's equivalent to having
to pre-register the physical telephones that you will use.
PM> No, I think it's much closer to preregistering a small, fixed set of
PM> operators who are willing to relay your call.
Sorry, no. The relevant MTA is the point of access into the mail
distribution service. That's equivalent to a telephone handset.
The operator is a back-end process that enables the handset, just as
MTA registration schemes are back-end processes that enable the MTA.
But the access unit comparison is mta:phone.
By and large, folks tend to be distracted by knowing too much about
underlying technical and economic details.
My comments are trying to focus on end-user and administrator impact.
There are all sorts of technical and economic differences between
Internet mail versus the telephone system. But my point is not about
those. I am simply concerned that the real impact of our choices be
clear. Very clear.
PM> All this talk of analogies between the email system and any other system,
PM> for communication or anything else, does nothing to advance this discussion.
That's unfortunate, because implications are rather important, when
making changes to a service that is already in use by 1/2 billion
people.
Trying to project effects, without looking around for services that
provide some historical perspective, is a good way to project
idealized effects that will not be borne out by actual experience.
d/
--
Dave Crocker <dcrocker-at-brandenburg-dot-com>
Brandenburg InternetWorking <www.brandenburg.com>
Sunnyvale, CA USA <tel:+1.408.246.8253>