spf-discuss
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Re: The case for XML

2004-01-21 14:19:49
On Wed, Jan 21, 2004 at 01:00:00PM -0800, Hallam-Baker, Phillip wrote:
| 
| There are two difficulties with this approach. First there is barely a
| process for developing SPF. Who gets to decide what goes into SPF 1.1? What
| happens if someone makes a proposal for an extension and the group does not
| think it is a good idea? There is no way we can force them to drop it, they
| can go ahead and publish anyway.
| 

The synthesist in me says "let's have it both ways!"
That synthesist is sometimes wrong, but let's hear his pitch.

Suppose we keep the simple SPF syntax for the common mechanisms: a, mx,
ptr, ip4.  They're the ones that bring 90% of the benefit for 90% of the
population, at least today.

But we add a new mechanism that indicates where the full-fledged XML
policy document can be found.  If that policy document is present, it
overrides the regular SPF declarations.

  xml:_ep.%{d}

Think of it as an "include" with a twist in the language along the way.

If a domain wants to express accreditation attributes that are
inappropriate to SPF, it can do so in the XML space.

That allows all the "v=spf1 -all" domains to not get into XML at all.

It also allows people to ramp up toward XML compliance while making full
use of the existing installed base.

Now, if we start down that path, we don't want to entrench XML-less SPF.
I don't want to see domain owners fearing to publish XML versions simply
because there are legacy clients that don't read them.

The industry can work together to agree that after a certain date all
SPF clients MUST read XML.  I can add AFTER X DATE, YOU MUST SUPPORT XML
to the SPF spec.

This strikes me as the kind of compromise that isn't worth making and
plain won't work: it's so much cleaner to make XML all or nothing.  But
what do people think?  There may be better ways to mandate the
transition so if an objection springs to mind first see if there's a way
to work around it.

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