Date: 	Wed, 15 Mar 2000 16:05:40 +0200
From: Matti Aarnio <mea@nic.funet.fi>
To: Dan Oscarsson <Dan.Oscarsson@trab.se>
Cc: drums@cs.utk.edu
Subject: Re: Is it good to publish a new RFC on SMTP without internationalisation?
Message-ID: <20000315160540.Q25546@nic.funet.fi>
References: <200003150944.KAA20373@valinor.malmo.trab.se>
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In-Reply-To: <200003150944.KAA20373@valinor.malmo.trab.se>; from Dan.Oscarsson@trab.se on Wed, Mar 15, 2000 at 10:44:44AM +0100

On Wed, Mar 15, 2000 at 10:44:44AM +0100, Dan Oscarsson wrote:
> I have looked at the new draft for SMTP (draft-ietf-drums-smtpupd-11.txt).
> 
> I am concerned that its forbinds internationalisation using UTF-8.
> I saw by looking at the archives of the list that you have talked
> about UTF-8 as that is what should be used in IETF protocols now.
> And that the answer was that this draft is just a combination
> of existing RFCs and usage. That would have been ok, if this had
> been published some years ago. But now DNS is going to have
> international domain names. UTF-8 expected as format.

	Sorry, I don't believe into that -- and I am from "more-than-ASCII"
	part of the world..

	Problem is interoperability with systems which use specifications
	predating any abominations like 8-bit chars in DNS. [1]

	Do you have influence enough to declare a flag-day for mandating
	everybody in the world up have updated software ?  Not to forget
	that it will add interoperability problems against other email
	realms, like X.400, and EBCDIC universe...

	I am sure Dan Bernstein can report how large a portion of globally
	reachable SMTP servers still support only HELO, not EHLO.  This
	even though the RFC 1425 defining EHLO was completed on February 1993.

	With current acceptance rate I would hazard a quess that it will take
	some 20-30 years before so radical a thing as UTF-8 in domains can be
	approved for email.

>    Dan

/Matti Aarnio	<mea@nic.funet.fi>

[1]	I am strongly in opinnion that DNS systems is WRONG place for a
	SERVICE DIRECTORY.  The WEB does not have globally accepted and
	actively used service directory infrastructure, and thus everybody
	are abusing the DNS system instead of developing Real Solution.