Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnewsl!cbnewsk!pegasus!hansen
From: hansen@pegasus.att.com (Tony L. Hansen)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: International character set requirements needed
Summary: SVr4 mail is 8-bit clean
Keywords: 8-bit data, mail
Message-ID: <1990Dec27.043500.27639@cbnewsk.att.com>
Date: 27 Dec 90 04:35:00 GMT
References: <7625@castle.ed.ac.uk> <1990Dec20.012516.23623@ico.isc.com> <2566@krafla.rhi.hi.is>
Sender: hansen@cbnewsk.att.com (tony.l.hansen)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 30

< From: heimir@rhi.hi.is (Heimir Thor Sverrisson)

<< There are some methods of data interchange, such as most email systems,
<< that are inherently 7-bit.  It would be nice if we could just banish
<< them, but compatibility is an albatross.

< There is nothing that tells me that email systems should be _inherently
< 7-bit_.  In fact here in Iceland we have to hack almost every piece of
< communications software to be able to use it in our _inherently 8-bit
< environment_.  This
< 
< I can see no reason at all for some stupid mailers to strip off the
< eighth bit (including Interactive's version of sendmail).  They don't
< have to - and should not - interpret the contents of the mail they are
< transmitting.  This is quite different from the troff situation where a
< program has to know a lot about it's input set.  So why don't you guys
< simply open up your mailers and be ready with a 8-bit clean version by
< the end of 1991!

1991? Why not now? The System V release 4.0 mail program is completely 8-bit
clean! (If you can find anyplace within SVr4 mail which isn't, I'll
personally guarantee that the next version of mail which comes from UNIX
System Laboratories will have a fix for the problem.)

By the way, the SMTP protocol doesn't permit 8-bit data. This limits mailers
which must send mail using that protocol.

					Tony Hansen
				att!pegasus!hansen, attmail!tony
				    hansen@pegasus.att.com