Message-Id: <v03004803ad2171146d87@[205.214.160.97]>
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Date: Tue, 16 Jan 1996 07:33:26 -0800
To: Harald.T.Alvestrand@uninett.no
From: Dave Crocker <dcrocker@brandenburg.com>
Subject: Re: Name of RFC822
Cc: ietf-drums <drums@cs.utk.edu>

At 3:32 AM 1/16/96, Harald.T.Alvestrand@uninett.no wrote:
>I've said before that I think we should call the whole DRUMS beast
>(SMTP + RFC 822 + MIME) Internet Mail.

	That's what I use, too.  On the other hand, it isn't an acronym
and, somehow, having two real words seems to be more awkward (or something)
for people than an acronym.  Go figure.

>Therefore, it makes sense to call RFC822bis Internet Mail Headers.
>SMTP is Internet Mail Transport, but has its old name too.
>MIME is Internet Mail Body Formats, but has its old name too.
>RFC822bis is Internet Mail Headers, and may also be called IMH.

	This is a logical idea but I strongly suggest we NOT create
parallel names.  It will confuse people and will probably lead them to
think that the Internet has thrown out or massively changed the
well-established  mail protocols.

>(Dave, I think Internet Mail Header Options gives a more honest-looking
>acronym than Simple Headers for Internet Mail :-)

	I continue to bow to the excellence of Europeans doing acronyms in
english.  I also marvel at the consistency of the skill.

	What I would REALLY like is an acronym with the letter ETT, since
that is as close as we can come to 822, but I cannot think of any words to
go with it.

d/

--------------------
Dave Crocker                                                +1 408 246 8253
Brandenburg Consulting                                fax:  +1 408 249 6205
675 Spruce Dr.                                     dcrocker@brandenburg.com
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