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Path: utzoo!watmath!deepthot!julian
From: julian@deepthot.UUCP (Julian Davies)
Newsgroups: net.mail.headers
Subject: Re: user-editable mail headers
Message-ID: <364@deepthot.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 30-Aug-84 22:01:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: deepthot.364
Posted: Thu Aug 30 22:01:53 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 31-Aug-84 07:35:14 EDT
References: <804@hou3c.UUCP>
Organization: UWO CS, London Canada
Lines: 16

Why don't all you ARPA people just make the change to X.400 protocols.
The rules for message envelopes are there clearly distinguished from
those for message contents.  So as long as the envelopes are correct
(which is the function of the trusted mail transfer agents) people can
go and make strange message contents if they wish.  The protocol even
has room for use of 'private use' types.  Messages with strange
headers might not be handled by 'standard' user agents of course, but
presumably experimenters provide appropriate user agents for their
user communities.
   My own interest is also in such experimentation, and using the
flexibility to try 'new media' messages for handicapped persons.
The ARPA RFC-xxx orientation to messages and envelopes all in ASCII
character sets strikes me as obsolescent.

Julian Davies
{deepthot|uwo}!julian