Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!TRANSARC.COM!Craig_Everhart From: Craig_Everhart@TRANSARC.COM Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: Come on guys, we've got to improve e-mail Message-ID: Date: 23 Jul 90 15:19:57 GMT References: <1990Jul20.122658.23729@mel.dit.csiro.au> Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 21 For years I've been using an RFC{821,822}-compliant Internet mail system that does almost all of what you suggest. Check out RFC 1049 and its commentators. Get yourself an Andrew source distribution from the X.V11R4 distribution. There's a mail system that supports automatic confirmation requests from users, among other things. Its design sidesteps privacy issues, since return-receipt notices go out only after explicit confirmation with the receiving human user, and it's understood that you don't get a NAK from any transport agent. The Andrew mail stuff uses altered content-type information to embed any ATK (Andrew ToolKit) object, presently including raster and line graphics, line animations, styled and marked-up text, simple other-file references, and so forth. Soapbox aside, I think there's a lot of current work on improving e-mail services (PEM, for example) that you're simply ignoring. Craig