This is my annual reminder that X.500 directories are as inevitable as
TP4 replacing TCP. And for largely the same reasons.
While it is certainly true that X.500 has not become a major success
yet, its chances are not as bad as TP4's chances of replacing TCP. The
reason is that while TP4 has to replace an existing comparable protocol
- TCP, there is no existing protocol that is comparable to X.500. YP
and DNS do some of the things that X.500 does, but they really are not
comparable.
X.500 is a part of DCE (the global directory service) and is being used
by the North American Directories Forum (NADF) for electronic telephone
directories.
X.500 has its problems, and its use is not yet widespread. However, it
stands a much better chance of success than TP4 does.
Paul