Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!wshb!michaelb From: michaelb@wshb.csms.com ( WSHB Operations Eng) Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp Subject: Re: Convincing Smail to use FQDNs Summary: Cost can be more than the phone bill. Message-ID: <801@wshb.csms.com> Date: 21 Aug 90 15:59:47 GMT References: <3827@ralph.Lafayette.LA.US> Organization: WSHB, Christian Science Mon. Synd., Cypress Creek, SC Lines: 39 > uhnix1.uh.edu---Internet > | <-- local call > sugar.hackercorp.com > | <-- long distance call > uunet.uu.net---Internet, and MX for .hackercorp.com > > Suppose someone at uhnix1.uh.edu wanted to send mail to someone at > sugar.hackercorp.com. What do you think their mail router should do? > > If uhnix1.uh.edu cares enough, and is capable of it, they should act > as though they were an MX for sugar.hackercorp.com. The risk they > take in doing that is that hackercorp.com might unilaterally start > MX'ing themselves to uhnix1.uh.edu without asking for permission or > paying for any of the costs, and people might get upset. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This is a very valid point about costs. The 'cost' isn't always just a matter of dollars and cents for the phone calls. I have an unpublished link that connects regularly, doesn't cost me very much phone bill wise, and is very reliable. The political cost is prohibitive. As far as I'm concerned, if anyone else tried to use the link it should just as well be marked DEAD. I sometimes don't think about 'cost' in this light when I'm talking about YOUR system, but I do think about it when I'm talking about MY system. What it boils down to is this: even though there may be another 'cheaper' way to send me mail if you knew the links, realistically I'm willing to pay the phone bill to uunet every day to get you to send me mail through them. Michael -- Michael Batchelor--Systems/Operations Engineer #compliments and complaints WSHB - An International Broadcast Station of # letterbox@csms.com The Christian Science Monitor Syndicate, Inc. #technical questions and reports michaelb@wshb.csms.com +1 803 625 4880 # letterbox-tech@csms.com