Since everyone will eventually have one or more personal layer
three addresses, why don't we use them ? This would be directly
analogous to the telephone system and we could look each other up
in the book or call an operator for "directory" assistance !
We could abandon mail entirely and send fax !
In fact, why don't we all just drop this packet-switch nonsense
and go back to circuit switching ?
Serious hat now:
You will have to change your DN as often _or less_ than
you will have to change your RFC-822 mail address. I don't
accept any arguments about frequency of change as arguments
against DNs.
You should see what can be done to a domain name ! Ask some of
the folks in the Australian MOD for their addresses. As more
people become "mail enabled" (mail enhanced ?) this trend of
constructing obnoxious domain names will continue.
I contend that in the long run, DNs will average shorter and
more mnemonic than domain names. Those of you who love
RFC-822 addresses answer this one:
is moron(_at_)bbn(_dot_)com
Mike Oron
or
Nick Moro
or
/dev/null for flames ...
Note that for obnoxious domain names, my mail system supports
various levels of aliasing, aliasing within my domain, aliasing
on my host, and personal aliases. Why aren't the implementors of
systems utilizing DNs supplying an aliasing capability ?
I have done so for my MSP systems ! Why isn't PEM ?
Shall we all try to separate the specification (PEM, X.500)
from the _admittedly experimental_ implementations ?
:-)
John Lowry