Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mstar!mstar.morningstar.com!bob
From: bob@MorningStar.Com (Bob Sutterfield)
Subject: Re: Is '@' ever needed?
In-Reply-To: jc@minya.UUCP's message of 17 Jun 91 23:31:51 GMT
Message-ID: <BOB.91Jun21125915@volitans.MorningStar.Com>
Sender: usenet@MorningStar.COM (USENET Administrator)
Reply-To: bob@MorningStar.Com (Bob Sutterfield)
Organization: Morning Star Technologies
References: <797@minya.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 91 16:59:23 GMT
Lines: 38

In article <797@minya.UUCP> jc@minya.UUCP (John Chambers) writes:
   ... there seems to be no reason to ever use '@' in a mail address
   ... [instead,] always use '%'

In the Internet mail addressing world, `%' denotes a component of a
mail transfer path, not an address.

   ...explaining to novice users what the rules for email addresses
   are.  They are mostly unbelieving at the complexity of it all.
   ("Why can't they just ...?")

"Why can't they just" use domain names?  user@host.dom.ain works fine,
and is easy to explain.

   ... uucp and decnet syntaxes ...  are just a list of machine names
   followed by a user name ... it's just a list of machines that know
   how to talk to each other, and a userid at the end.

Right, that's a path, not an address.  It describes the path that the
message should follow along the way to the destination.  Mail users
shouldn't need to worry about the details of transporting their
message to its recipient.

   But then I come to the internet notation, and people look at me
   really strangely when I try to explain why you write a list
   backwards, use '%' for all but the last separator, and a '@' for
   the very last one.

The internet notation is user@host.dom.ain, which describes an
address, which is a place to which mail should be delivered.  The
percent-hack notation describes a path, and it makes sense that your
users should get confused, particularly if you try to mix the two.

   (About all I can say is that it is a good thing to think about when
   someone is trying to tell you how well-designed it all is. :-)

The percent hack for path notations wasn't designed, it was hacked.
If you want design, use addresses instead of paths.