Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsd!helios.ee.lbl.gov!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!VENERA.ISI.EDU!pvm
From: pvm@VENERA.ISI.EDU (Paul Mockapetris)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400.gateway
Subject: Re: Survey -- should we merge lists?
Message-ID: <8909120120.AA07794@venera.isi.edu>
Date: 12 Sep 89 01:23:15 GMT
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I don't care whether the lists get merged or not.

I do think that we should try to make the best possible union between
at least the X.400, 822, DECNET, and possibly other mail worlds.  I
think that this will require a reasoned discussion with expertise from
several different areas.  It would be nice to hold this discussion in
one place, without a lot of multiple list traffic to obscure the
discussion.  Someplace a little more intimate than TCP-IP would be
nice.

It may be that fixed tables and ugly addresses are the only
alternative.  I am more confident that they should be the last
resort than I am that they are the best alternative.  Rob Hagens
has made a good start in presenting the issues, and the DNS WG will
be having some joint sessions the OSI folks at the upcoming IETF, to
try to find some alternatives.

Its clearly a swamp, but I think that the MX experience in the
Internet shows that it is possible, though difficult, to make mail
addressing better.  We should try.

paul