Re: [exim] IDN conversion

Chris Lightfoot wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 31, 2006 at 08:34:41PM +0100, Renaud Allard wrote:
>> I have just set the allow_utf8_domains to true. Now exim accepts my mail
>> to n@lórien.net. But it doesn't seem to understand the domain name.
>>
>> 2006-10-31 20:30:36 1GezJj-0007mM-CI ** n@lórien.net: mail domain
>> "l\303\263rien.net" is syntactically invalid
>
> see the spec -- you also need to change dns_check_names_pattern,
> or set it to the empty string.
>
>
> (None of this is doing anything to convince me that IDN is
> anything other than a trainwreck in the making, btw.)
>

You are not alone - but I don't expect them to listen to Vint Cerf, either.

The core of the problem is that we mapped nearly everything to *any* specific
natonal-language-associated codeset in the first place, as that immediately
brings in national/ethnic identities and all that sort of politics.

Best would be as IP numbers are. Numbers. Don't care what *you* call 'em.
mate. Or what display notation rocks yer boat. CIDR. hex, binary, octal.

So long as the binary number is the same.

IOW - I don't see this working unless *all* encoding/display is left in the very
outermost ring.

And that does not fly with DNS 'as we now know it'.

OTOH, there is precedence for something that MIGHT work:

Dial 1-800-<whatever> is of no concern to the telco signalling system *whatsoever*

Bill