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From: gore@nucsrl.UUCP (Jacob Gore)
Newsgroups: comp.org.decus
Subject: Re: VMS Users Network
Message-ID: <3410004@nucsrl.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 6-Sep-87 15:35:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: nucsrl.3410004
Posted: Sun Sep  6 15:35:27 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 8-Sep-87 01:59:24 EDT
References: <3856@well.UUCP>
Organization: Northwestern U, Evanston IL, USA
Lines: 38

In article <3887@well.UUCP> rshuford@well.UUCP (Richard S. Shuford) writes:
>DCP works just fine under VMS, as well as a bunch of other machine
>types.  [...]  The person that brought up the point of 'why invent
>another protocol?' is absolutely right -- tools exist, so let's not
>reinvent the wheel, ok?

PMDF is not a protocol, it is a mail submission/delivery system.  It
interfaces very cleanly with the standard VMS Mail program.  It is easy to
configure in multi-network environments.

Sure, dcp could be used.  But if it doesn't interface into the VAX Mail
system, then it will have to be enhanced to do so.  Alternately, a channel
program can be created for PMDF to use dcp, the same whay as MMDF has a
channel program to use uucp.  I suspect the latter would be easier, and better
for sites already running PMDF.

/ nucsrl:comp.org.decus / dboyes@uoregon.UUCP (David Boyes) /
>A. I'm told that all Unix sites running 4.3 BSD also possess the MMDF
>   program.  PMDF was designed to talk to MMDF.

They may "have" it, in the sense that it is on the "user-contributed software"
tape distributed with 4.3BSD.  However, MMDF does not coexist with 'sendmail',
it completely replaces it.  Since currently there are no exact emulators of
UCB Mail (or Mailtool for Suntools users) that work with MMDF, many sites
would be very reluctant to throw away 'sendmail' and put MMDF in its place.

My recommendation to any system administrator who is considering replacing
sendmail with MMDF is: YES, YES, YES!!! DO IT!!!  You will save yourself a lot
of mizery, save the network from screwed up headers you may omitt by mistake.
And your users will get used to the send/msg interface very quickly (a week at
most).  In my opinion, it is a much better interface anyway.  Also, if you are
running MH, is, allegedly, interfaces to MMDF as well as to sendmail. 

However, to expect MMDF on any "Unix site running 4.3 BSD" is totally
unrealistic. 

Jacob Gore				gore@EECS.NWU.Edu
Northwestern Univ., EECS Dept.		{gargoyle,ihnp4,chinet}!nucsrl!gore