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Re: [ietf-smtp] IETF Policy on dogfood consumption or avoidance - SMTP version

2019-12-19 13:02:12
Viktor Dukhovni <ietf-dane(_at_)dukhovni(_dot_)org> writes:

Yes, likely the efficacy of the local rules is not reassessed as often
as one might wish, and may be largely complaint driven.  That's the
nature of how limited devops cycles are spent.  This is not shocking or
even surprising.

I think there is a root disagreement of motives beneath this discussion.
Keith, as he mentions explicitly, is advocating for a reliable email
service, by which I think he means accepting and properly delivering
well-formed mail according to the protocol.  It's not clear to me,
however, that reliable email service in that sense is the top priority for
a lot of SMTP server operators.  Some are prioritizing filtering out junk
mail over providing reliable email service.

I'm not sure this is the sort of conflict about which operators are going
to reach a universal consensus.  It's a disagreement about motivations and
incentives.  There are email users who would strongly prioritize filtering
out junk over reliable mail delivery, and will choose their providers
accordingly.  (And, of course, there are email users with the opposite
position.)

What role standards should play in that sort of conflict over priorities
is murky.  There is a lot of value in describing the properties of a
reliable email service.  But there's a bit of a "you can lead a horse to
water but you can't make them drink" problem in trying to get operators
who are prioritizing things other than reliable email service to then
follow those rules.

-- 
Russ Allbery (eagle(_at_)eyrie(_dot_)org)             
<https://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>

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