Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!necntc!ames!sdcsvax!ucbvax!BIONET-20.ARPA!ROODE From: ROODE@BIONET-20.ARPA (David Roode) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: SMTP question Message-ID: <12325952786.48.ROODE@BIONET-20.ARPA> Date: Wed, 12-Aug-87 14:40:53 EDT Article-I.D.: BIONET-2.12325952786.48.ROODE Posted: Wed Aug 12 14:40:53 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 15-Aug-87 01:32:11 EDT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 18 One reason not to expand SMTP to provide for 8 bit ASCII is that there are a goodly number of obscure computer made by a company called IBM that are probably already internally converting 7 bit ASCII into 8 bit EBCDIC. Who knows what would happen to information encoded into the ASCII parity bit when transmission to one of these guys were attempted. Some of them are still sending mail messages to each other by pretending to punch cards on each others' virtual card punch. Not to poke fun, this is just an example of the sort of baggage that accumulates when one is in business for 40 years or more, give or take a few years, in a field beset by technological advances. It's a miracle that ASCII itself is acceptable in the international community, and I am sure there are some problems with that--going through international mail gateways to other countries' research mail networks would engender problems for 8 bit ASCII, I suspect. -------