From: Valdis(_dot_)Kletnieks(_at_)vt(_dot_)edu
...
I think the reason Einar forwarded it was for this:
The problem is that due to the Market share of Microsoft an error in a
Microsoft program may force non-Microsoft users to make changes, and
possibly also imply a loss of mail functionality.
There *is* the 800-pound gorilla problem here. If one company with
significant market share manages to Do It Very Wrongly, it leaves everybody
else having to decide between being able to follow the standard, or being
able to intercommunicate.
...
Bugs that cause operational problems in the network such as routing flaps
might be reasonably announced in the IETF's main list. This particular
bug does sound likely to affect the operation of the Internet itself.
It also does not not sound as serious as other bugs in Microsoft MUAs,
such as the one that puts the wrong MIME boundary string in the header
and so causes receiving causing MUAs to think the message is empty.
The internal bug reporting mailing list for any large company would
have far too much traffic to be forwarded to the IETF's mailing list.
Let's not try to imagine what a mailing list devoted to bugs in
Microsoft software would be like, given Microsoft's many products and
world leading attention to quality. (If you're not in the middle of
the pack, your salescritters will claim you're leading, and never mind
the direction.)
In other words, let's let those who are forced to use Microsoft MUAs
software (including indirectly by sending mail to people who insist
on using Microsoft MUAs) find their own wailing wall.
Vernon Schryver vjs(_at_)rhyolite(_dot_)com