The less computer literate users have a hard time distinguishing the
"mail virtual network" from the tcp/ip physical network and don't
really understand the difference between their mailname and the string
username(_at_)theirhost(_dot_)theirdomain
Let's see. The problem in the abstract here is that there are two overlapping
namespaces, and users have trouble keeping them straight. This is certainly
true. But what solution do we have? Adding yet another namespace! If this
really is the problem we're trying to solve, our current solution only makes it
much worse.
There are very many sites that don't seperate the mail name space from the
telnet name space. So they have multiple mailboxes with different names
depending on what machine they send the email from.
Absolutely true as well, and definitely a problem. But it is a well understood
problem with lots of solutions. Most modern email software provides one or more
ways to canonicalize addresses. And most systems support both algorithmic and
directory-based canonicalization. All you have to do is set it up.
Most X.500 systems, on the other hand, do not have anything even close to the
rich solutions modern email software usually provides. Until and unless this
changes using X.500 to "solve" such problems once again does exactly the
opposite: It makes things much worse.
My one remaining hope in this regard is the possibility of using hybrid systems
that borrow technology from both the Internet email and X.500 realms. Such
systems are likely to be very powerful indeed once we fully understand how to
build them. I'm not convinced we understand yet, however.
This is equally true for some of the non tcp/ip transported email systems.
Sure, and I'd be the first to say that many of these systems have not dealt
with canonicalization issues nearly as well as the Internet messaging world
has. But this isn't as much of a problem as it first appears, since you can
deal with them as they gateway onto the Internet. The additional namespace
problem remains, of course.
Atleast X.500 /X.400 forms are divorced.
Thank heaven for small favors!
Personally I beleive that using your email address in certificates
is also a major problem.
I don't disagree, really. However, plenty of solutions are possible when
things are based on email addresses. X.500 has a lot of catching up to do.
Ned