First let me state: i hate spam. All monty python quotes aside, spam is a serious problem, costing businesses like me real productivity.
Dossy wrote:
MX records should point to real mail servers, not some whacked setup on
someone's cable-modem connected machine. I'd much rather see all those small users be forced to do things The Right Way(tm) and TOTALLY eliminate spam the way I'm suggesting, rather than to continue to allow noobs to set up their own little MTA (probably as wide-open spam relays until they get spanked by someone for misconfiguring their MTA the first time out).
The whole reason why spam is so damned pervasive today is because just about anyone can set up a mail server and deliver mail to anyone else without any kind of sanitation or control.
Secondly: you are completely right. SMTP/POP/IMAP as serious business communication protocols are ludicrous. I curse the day they were invented.
BUT: they are what we have, and random pockets of people arbitrarily tightening configurations that break a significant number of email servers without warning or explanation can only harm business productivity and the reputation of the internet in the minds of business management.
It's the September that never ended. God damnit.
Sorry for the angry and bitter tone, but I've had the argument of "whine whine, you're going to inconvenience all the little guys, wah wah wah" too many times now. The fact is, people should be pressuring ISPs to be more than bandwidth providers. Back when *I* was a kid, I had to walk uphill to school both ways in the snow with no shoes, and ISPs had to not only deliver a circuit that was up 24x7x365 but ALSO provide mail, USENET and other value-add services!
Since when are we into paying more and getting less? I sure ain't.
Given that we are in the crusty situation we are in with email (like, why the heck isn't there a pervasive digital signature system yet - and no global corporates are not going to install GnuPG on their machines any time soon), what is needed is a very long term migration plan to a much better email replacememnt. something like the IPv6 migration is a good model for thoroughness and speed and transparency.
I'm not putting my hand up to run that project!
-- Mark Aufflick e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: www.pumptheory.com p: +61 438 700 647
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