Re: [idn] Debunking the ACE myth

[Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu>]

> > delivering to a file is a protocol.  not all protocols involve
> > direct interaction between the producer and the consumer.
> 
> If there is no direct interaction, there has to be an out-of-band
> negotiation. 

no there doesn't.

> However you do this is entirely up to you. Until you come up
> with a mechanism that works reliably however, I would suggest that SMTP
> should not be upgraded.

and this is one of the reasons why introduction of IDNs into email
will not be dependent on an SMTP option.

> The dual-mode model helps you deliver on whatever you decide you can|wan't
> to do. It won't break anything on it's own.

it will break things merely because it requires additional software changes.
changes invariably introduce new bugs.

> The example you cited is a broken SMTP implementation, and has absolutely
> nothing to do with the DNS model.

precisely! it's an example of why dual mode models cause problems - 
because implementations will fail to implement them correctly.

> > Version tags don't help if the browser doesn't understand the version.
> > (we realized that MIME-Version was essentially useless only after
> > RFC 1341 made it mandatory.  by the time we realized this, it was
> > too late to deprecate it - too many UAs refused to recognize MIME
> > without it.)
> 
> Thanks for proving my point; the only time that there will be bleed-over
> is when the applications fail. You can use your MIME experience to prevent
> this from happening again.

nothing in the MIME experience helps us to keep applications from being
buggy.

> The dual-mode protocol won't break anything. Applications that implement
> it poorly will.

poorly-implemented applications are a given, I'm afraid.
and the more complex we require them to be, the more likely they are to
be buggy.

Keith