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RFC2821bis-01 Issue 4: Client actions on receipt of 4yz and 5yz codes

2007-03-22 20:17:53

In RFC 2821bis-01, Section 4.2.1 (Reply Code Severities and Theory), in the description of the generic 4yz category, described the desired action in terms of what the client "is encouraged to" do. I was persuaded in an off-list exchange that this can reasonably be changed to "SHOULD" and -01 reflects that change. For 5yz, there was a similar construction that indicates that the client "is discouraged from" repeating the request. I was less confident about changing that to "SHOULD NOT", so the "is discouraged" text remains in -01.

Question: Should the 5yz description be changed to use "SHOULD NOT". If not, is "SHOULD" in the 4yz description reasonable?

     john