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author Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
date Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:35:04 +0100
parents 8ddd610a05ba
children
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9
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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1 Document: draft-ietf-emailcore-rfc5321bis-40
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2 Intended RFC status: Proposed Standard
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3 Review type: artart - Last Call review
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4 Reviewer: Henry S. Thompson
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5 Review Date: 2025-02-05
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6 Result: Ready with minor issues
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7
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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8 *Summary*
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9
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
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10 This is a non-trivial update to a major standard
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11
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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12 *Substantive points*
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13
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14 *Minor points*
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15
10
8ddd610a05ba missed the deadline, sent to Klensin as is
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16 [Passim]: I realise there's nothing like this in the ancestors of
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17 this one, but I really miss not having a single Appendix where the
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18 ABNF rules are gathered together, see e.g. RFC 3986 Appendix A.
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19
9
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
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20 8.1.4:
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21
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22 I had to do some hunting to understand what was being referred to by
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
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23 'Strings' in the last paragraph. Maybe expand this slightly to read
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24
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25 As new clauses are defined, they may, in principle, specify
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
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26 creation of separate registries (specific to them) if the Strings
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27 allowed by the syntax summary consist of reserved terms or keywords
052d25a9004a starting with section 8 and Appendices
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28 rather than less restricted strings.
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29
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30 D:
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31 I find the use of the word 'deprecated' in this appendix confusing
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32 and, it seems to me, inconsistent.
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33
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34 In the first para., we find
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35
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36 "A few features of RFC 821 have proven to be problematic and SHOULD
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37 NOT be used in Internet mail"
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38
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39 So far so good, in my experience of how 'deprecated' is used.
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40
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41 And in D.1 we find
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42
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43 "Its use is deprecated; SMTP systems SHOULD NOT use it unless ..."
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44
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45 Also OK by me.
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46
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47 But in D.4 we find
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48
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49 "It is deprecated and MUST NOT be used."
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50
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51 In my experience that amounts to a contradiction. Deprecation, I
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52 thought, is meant for something which the spec. currently allows,
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53 but is considered to be outdated and probably SHOULD NOT be
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54 used. Support in future versions cannot be counted on.
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55
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56 Since the ABNF doesn't allow this, and it hasn't been supported for
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57 a long time, it's way past time for deprecation, in my opinion. At
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58 most a note back in 4.1.3 saying that #-literals haven't made sense
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59 for a long time and MUST NOT be used.
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60
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61 Similarly in D.5 we find
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62
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63 "It is deprecated and MUST NOT be used."
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64
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65 Since the ABNF no longer allows anything other than 4-digit years,
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66 deprecation is not appropriate IMO. It would make sense to me iff
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67 back in 4.4.5 wording was added saying it SHOULD NOT be produced,
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68 but MAY be accepted for backward-compatibility for the time being.
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69
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70 *Nits*
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71
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72 8.1.1.3 (1):
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73 "EHLO Keyword: The textual name of the SMTP service extension"
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74 Needs a full-stop.
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75
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76 8.1.3:
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77 '"Additional Registered Clauses (keyword and
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78 values)' Needs a close-quote.
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79
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80 8.3.3.2:
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81 '"Additional verbs", "MAIL/RCPT Parameter Values" ...' reads
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82 awkwardly to me, I'd prefer
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83 '"Additional verbs" and "MAIL/RCPT Parameter Values" ...'
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84
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85 8.3.3.3:
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86 'Note: Implementation support for VRFY is required in servers but
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87 its listing in the EHLO response is optional".'
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88 Either spurious close-quote or missing open-quote.
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89
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90 9:
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91 "chetti contributed" and the long note that precedes it.
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92 Would "chetti [sic] contributed ..." be a possible compromise? [If
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93 not, nothing needs to be said, I certainly don't want to require any
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94 further discussion of what has already consumed more time than it
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95 deserves.]
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96
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97 C.1:
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98 "by Smith at host bar.com, and to Jones ..."
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99 Reads awkwardly to me. Just
9
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100 "by Smith at host bar.com to Jones ..."
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101 seems OK to me.