Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!ut-sally!husc6!rutgers!ucla-cs!zen!ucbvax!TSCA.ISTC.SRI.COM!ejc From: ejc@TSCA.ISTC.SRI.COM Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: SMTP question Message-ID: <8707271701.AA19176@sri-gemini> Date: Mon, 27-Jul-87 13:37:02 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-gemi.8707271701.AA19176 Posted: Mon Jul 27 13:37:02 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 28-Jul-87 04:55:22 EDT References: <8707231737.AA24337@topaz.rutgers.edu> Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 33 This will likely lead to yet another tangent and should be continued on the MM Mail list, but it isn't true that NOBIDY FOLLOWS THE SPECIFICATION for MM Mail. There was a report written by SRI in 1983 defining the consensus (among DoD researchers) specification for standardized MM Mail exchange at that time. The BBN Diamond, ISI MMM, and SRI MMM systems all conformed to that spec (and also, I believe, Dave Mills' Fuzzballs could read MM msgs). A RFP was to be generated, and more development was to be undertaken, especially in the area of graphics exchange. BBN decided to change the DIAMOND exchange formats to support new capabilities they were developing, and as a result, they were no longer compatible with the other (still operational) systems. SRI, in turn, has been funded to develop systems that handle digitized images (maps) with dynamically changing graphic overlays. One might argue that these enhancements should have been discussed and a common exchange protocol agreed to by the "whole community", but the truth is, minimal funding is being provided for that. One observation that is given to support the cutback in funds is that there aren't any remaining research issues. But, one only has to look at the subject headers on this mailing list (the details quickly become boggling) to see that there are many unresolved issues in information exchange in our current systems (not even addressing enhanced system capabilities) and that a much better framework is needed. So, in summary, there still are "compatible" MM Mail systems, they clearly need upgrading to support new capabilities, DIAMOND is developing such capabilites but common exchange protocols need to be re-established in order to leverage all the on-going research in these areas. Earl