Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!info-vax From: info-vax@ucbvax.ARPA Newsgroups: fa.info-vax Subject: Mail to non VMS machines Message-ID: <5421@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Mon, 11-Mar-85 08:23:45 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.5421 Posted: Mon Mar 11 08:23:45 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 12-Mar-85 21:58:57 EST Sender: daemon@ucbvax.ARPA Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 38 From: sasaki@harvard.ARPA This is a mild flame. If you agree with me, let your DEC salesman know that there is a need, and that you are willing to pay a rea- sonable sum to fill this need. Mail to non-VMS machines is very important to many sites (ours included). The many work-arounds in existence point out this need, yet DEC provides *NO* support for this. If you don't use DECNET, then you lose. There is no externally available documentation for the Mail-11 protocol. There is no documentation for the various hooks in the mail system. The only source for these things is the micro-fiche, and the documentation provided there is also lacking. The only way that I can send mail to a TCP/IP site (using DEC "supported" software) is to route the mail through an ULTRIX site running the officially un-announced DECNET-on-ULTRIX. Inquiries about future plans for TCP/IP support on VMS (even with non-disclosure) have yielded only blank stares. DEC is developing (currently in field test, I think) a "smart" ethernet controller. The only protocol that is being supported is DECNET. This total lack of support has lead to the various work-arounds. A few sites have completely abandoned using DEC supplied mail and are using various home-grown systems, most based on SMTP. It is time for DEC to wake up and provide some kind of support for network operations via non-DECNET protocols. The company line about official non-support, and "your code will break in a future release" really isn't acceptable. Marty Sasaki Havard University Science Center sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp} 617-495-1270