Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!nosc!logicon.com!tots!tep
From: tep@tots.UUCP (Tom Perrine)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Come on guys, we've got to improve e-mail
Message-ID: <159@tots.UUCP>
Date: 20 Jul 90 18:05:30 GMT
References: <1990Jul20.122658.23729@mel.dit.csiro.au>
Reply-To: tep@tots.Logicon.COM (Tom Perrine)
Organization: Logicon, Inc., San Diego, California
Lines: 40

I couldn't agree more about the lack of progress in SMTP protocol
enhancements to handle such things as return-receipt, multi-media
mail, etc.

I used Multics systems in the mid 70s which had the return-receipt
feature, which could of course be disabled by the recipient.

Encryption standards and multi-media standards are appearing. I know
of RFC1040 (Privacy Enhancements for Internet Electronic Mail) and
RFC1049 (A Content-type header field for Internet Messages), but I
know of *no* fielded systems that support either.

I agree that there is no "official" UA <-> UA protocol, other than,
perhaps, that information which is encoded in the header fields.

You might want to check out any of the following newsgroups:

comp.mail.headers	Gatewayed from the Internet header-people list.
comp.mail.mh		The UCI version of the Rand Message Handling system.
comp.mail.misc		General discussions about computer mail.
comp.mail.multi-media	Multimedia Mail.

comp.protocols.iso.x400	X400 mail protocol discussions.  (Moderated)
comp.protocols.iso.x400.gateway	X400 mail gateway discussions.  (Moderated)

I worked on designing some extenstions to SMTP for use over
dial-lines, but never took it any further. I like the "RWRA" SMTP
extension, but I think most limitiations for multi-media are in the UA
side of things.

Perhaps we need to take this discussion to one of the above
newsgroups, or start a new mailing list, perhaps mail-modernization or
somesuch?

Tom Perrine (tep)                       |Internet: tep@tots.Logicon.COM
Logicon                                 |UUCP: nosc!hamachi!tots!tep
Tactical and Training Systems Division  |-or-  sun!suntan!tots!tep
San Diego CA                            |GENIE: T.PERRINE
"Harried: with preschoolers"            |+1 619 455 1330
Home of the _Tower Operator Training System_ as seen in the SunTech Journal.