This is a status update regarding the development of an open-source
document about the fundamentals of Internet email. Phil Pennock,
Jeffrey Goldberg, and I have been hashing out the details and we have
come to what I think is a consensus on some items (although I'm sure
that they will correct me if I'm wrong).
First, we are in the process of setting up a SourceForge project to
coordinate the development of the document. Another update will be
posted once the SourceForge project is ready (hopefully within a day).
Second, I think that the three of us are in agreement that we should
use XML and the DocBook XML DTD to create the document. The major
stumbling block in deciding on a source format was the ability to
create decent ASCII output but I think that we have this solved.
Note: if you plan to contribute to the project, you won't need much
more than a text editor that you are comfortable with. XML is (like
HTML) just a specially formatted ASCII file. There are XML editors
out there (free and otherwise) that can make editing XML documents
easier, so you may want to investigate your options. psgml
<
http://sourceforge.net/projects/psgml/> is an option for Emacs users.
I believe that VIM has some support for SGML. See
<
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Data_Formats/Markup_Languages/XML/Tools/Editors/>
for a start.
If you want to recreate the output from the source, most of the tools
that I'll be using are taken from RedHat 7.1 beta. Of course, since
all of the tools that I'll be using are open source you should be able
to get the source and install it on most anything that resembles UNIX.
Also, since XML and the DocBook XML DTD are open standards as well,
you don't necessarily need to use the same tools as I'm using.
Once things get going, I'll create a second document that describes
the procedure that I use to create the finished output.
Third, the document will be released under the GNU Free Documentation
License. See <
http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/fdl.html> for details.
Fourth, we plan on supporting ASCII text, HTML, PDF and possibly
PostScript as formats for final output. The PDF and PostScript
versions will probably be offered in both US Letter size and A4 size.
Fifth, we'd like this document to be as MTA-neutral as possible. So
once we get things going, invite all of your buddies that administer
sendmail, postfix, qmail, GroupWise, Exchange, Notes, or whatever.
Just remember that we are concentrating on the transport of messages
in RFC 822 (plus extensions) messages via RFC 821 (plus extensions)
(aka SMTP) so we won't get into the proprietary protcols used in
between servers in GroupWise, Exchange, or Notes systems. UUCP will
likely also be ignored. Of course, if some aspect of those
proprietary systems has an effect on SMTP email it might be a
candidate for discussion.
I would prefer that we hold discussion on the content of the document
until the SourceForge project is set up and we can use a SourceForge
mailing list. That way the discussion can be archived on SourceForge
for posterity. If you have questions regarding the practical details
of using DocBook and XML I'm willing to field some questions privately
but I only have experience with a limited number of UNIX-based tools
so I'm going to be almost completely ignorant of any other tools.
Jeff
