Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!uunet!mcsun!cernvax!chx400!poole
From: poole@chx400.switch.ch (Simon Poole)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains
Subject: Re: Proposal for use of DNS to store RFC 987, etc mappings
Message-ID: <1990Jul27.145802.19330@chx400.switch.ch>
Date: 27 Jul 90 14:58:02 GMT
References: <9007270026.AA16028@bel.isi.edu>
Reply-To: poole@chx400.switch.ch (Simon Poole)
Distribution: inet
Organization: SWITCH Zuerich, Switzerland
Lines: 29

In article <9007270026.AA16028@bel.isi.edu> postel@VENERA.ISI.EDU writes:
.....
>Say, i think something has gone off the track here.  I thought that RFC-987
>was for mapping between the Internet mail protocol as defined in RFCs 821
>and 822, and the X.400 mail system.  If that is the case then wouldn't any
>gateway that did RFC-987 be between the Internet and some part of the X.400
>world?  That is, won't any gateway that needs to do the RFC-987 mappings have
>one foot in the Internet, and therefore have access to the DNS? 

No.

Two reasons:

a) Internet <-> X.400 mail system <-> local RFC822 mail system
				      (without DNS connectivity)

   is reasonably common (matter of fact the swiss universities
   were and are in exactly this situation).

b) RFC822 addresses (and running them thru a RFC987 gateway) are
   the defacto short hand notation for X.400 addresses (purists will hate
   me for saying that) at least in our academic environment. 
	

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
						Simon Poole
 poole@verw.switch.ch / poole@chx400.switch.ch / mcsun!chx400!poole
------------------------------------------------------------------------