On Mon, 2004-05-31 at 03:01, Lars B. Dybdahl wrote:
[snip]
- - No merge. Most mail systems will do both SPF records and XML-based
CID records.
- - Merged standard based on XML. All mail systems will do XML.
- - Merged standard with XML and non-XML formats. Most mail systems
will
do both SPF records without and with XML.
I don't think that there are other possibilities if Microsoft demands
XML for a merger. And of the three scenarios, I surely prefer the
I think you're leaving out another three possible options.
- - Merge. Microsoft capitulates and abandons XML for the merge.
- - No merge. Microsoft fights an uphill battle to get the world to
sign (free) patent licenses with them to implement CID and looses.
- - No merge. Microsoft fights an uphill battle and wins.
Why is it that just because Microsoft has the market locked
(currently, at least) on the desktop, that it is is often thought to be
futile to try to do anything that they won't support? Heck, I sure hope
they do come around and support a form of RFC2821/2822 checking that
doesn't involve XML or any of their patents.
But the reality is, though I don't know the actual numbers, that
Microsoft does NOT have lion's share of the market for MTA edge
servers. It was sendmail for a long time (and might still be), but it
is largely composed of FOSS MTAs like sendmail, postfix, qmail,
(courier-mta and exim to a lesser extent), and I'm sure a host of others
I'm missing. These are the MTAs that are going to be doing the checking
and/or tagging of messages based on SPF.
Frankly, if none, or very few of the FOSS MTAs buy into doing SPF with
XML (and we subsequently don't see it every *integrated* into those
MTAs), then SPF with XML is dead. I'd like to see what comes out of
next week's meeting, but frankly, given the patent issue, it just may be
dead already.
Maybe we'll see it relegated to milters, acls, policy daemons and the
like, but that fact alone will cause email administrators to ask "Why?
Why isn't it integrated into sendmail, yet?" Once they find out that
there could be patent issues, free or not, that require signing a
licenses with *anybody*, you may find that even email administrators
will refuse to implement SPF with XML checking. I know I, as well as
probably all of my known peers, would refuse.
--
-Paul Iadonisi
Senior System Administrator
Red Hat Certified Engineer / Local Linux Lobbyist
Ever see a penguin fly? -- Try Linux.
GPL all the way: Sell services, don't lease secrets