On Tue, 27 Feb 2001, Philip Hazel wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Feb 2001, Dave C. wrote:
>
> > Where's that "Basic Introduction to Internet Mail and SMTP" that someone
> > was rumored to have been writing? Or was this part of PH10's book?
>
> It is a chapter at the start of the book. However, an MTA-independent
> book would also be a Good Thing, I suspect.
I think that the chapter at the start of your book is a good thing, but
mostly what I was thinking about was a document we could point people to.
There are an ever growing number of people who find themselves managing
mail transport systems without knowing how mail transport works. They
typically don't know that they need such a book, until they post a
question on a list like this and get ridiculed for not knowing how mail
transport works. What we need is a website to point people to.
For something that was an all to common problem a few years ago, there is
http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/docs/email/badbounce.html
which I wrote in a fit of pique one day. Fortunately, it is no longer
much of an issue. Likewise, I want to do something similar for broken
autoresponders. Obviously I should tone that sort of thing down a bit,
but you can imagine that I was more than a bit annoyed when I wrote it.
The point is to have a "canned clue" for people who need that clue fast.
I like the idea of a book, but it would have to be compatible with having
a website we call all easily refer people to as needed. So an open
content/publication style thing might be right. But the printed book is
secondary. Particularly becuase some of that will be coverred in PH's
book.
Alternatively, PH could see if his publishers are willing to see the
relevant chapter made available electronically, royalty free.
-j
--
Jeffrey Goldberg
I have recently moved, see
http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/contact.html
Relativism is the triumph of authority over truth, convention over justice
