On Tue, Nov 07, 2000 at 01:25:16PM -0800, Marc MERLIN wrote:
> I very well understand that.
> I just never saw the point of STARTTLS when you can run another instance of
> the daemon on a different port, the SSL port, where you know that you will
> only get SSL connections.
I think the idea was that if two MTAs support TLS, then any transfer
between them will be encrypted, without the client-end having to know
in advance that the server-end supports it.
At the moment, where TLS is supported by a minute fraction of SMTP
servers, this scenario is unlikely. But if you postulate the majority
of SMTP servers supporting TLS, then the vast majority of email would
be transmitted encrypted. Is that useful? I think opinions would
differ.
SRH
--
+ Steve Haslam | W: +44-20-7447-1839 +
+ Production Engineer, Excite UK | M: +44-7775-645618 +
. NP: Theme - The Matrix .
