[Standards-JIG] email best practices JEP

[Dave Crocker]

Ian Paterson wrote:
> IMHO XMPP's extensibility will give IM a better chance to fight SPAM 
> wars than email has had. That is just one reason why, IMHO, most people 
> will benefit once XMPP eventually replaces the email messaging protocols.
> 
> IMHO, for that to happen then XMPP IM clients will *at first* need to 
> integrate fully-featured SMTP (and POP or IMAP) functionality. 


The following is a mantra I repeat, every time someone suggests 
replacing SMTP:

1.  There will, indeed, come a time when it needs to be replaced, 
because it cannot be enhanced to support a capability for which there is 
clear and strong community need.

2.  Before anyone waves a hand and says that replacing SMTP is the 
answer to solving spam, we need:

     a) Community consensus about the messaging functionality that is 
different than we now have; we are nowhere near having that consensus 
now; having verifiable authentication of an associated identity will 
help nicely with some problems, but no one should be seduced into 
thinking that the "solution" is that simple.

     b) An effort to design these different functions into the current 
email protocol standards, and failure of that effort.

     c) General purpose inter-personal and inter-organizational 
communications is far more diverse than most folks seem to appreciate; 
we need to be very careful that curing the disease of spam does not kill 
the patient of open global communications.


And to rain on the parade further:

Hal Rottenberg wrote:
 > While I agree with all of your reasoning, I think that you
 > underestimate the ability of the consumer to move the market.

Consumers also have the ability to stay with established practices and 
products.

Anyone who has actually tried to move a market has learned just how much 
momentum an installed base provides.


d/

-- 

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg InternetWorking
   bbiw.net