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Before we go about replacing IMAP which only has two things going against it (old, complex but not broken) how about fixing the SMTP shenanigans first which wou
by kahawe 15y ago
Before we go about replacing IMAP which only has two things going against it (old, complex but not broken) how about fixing the SMTP shenanigans first which would actually be more beneficial? SMTP is even older and arguably actually broken and while there are a few usable work-arounds for things like spam and faking senders etc it needs replacing way more than IMAP does. While IMAP surely is not so "sexy" in the eyes of the modern geeks, it seems to work just fine... at least good enough so that googlemail decided to offer IMAP access. And while the same could be said about SMTP - it kinda works and I get my mail - it feels like this small little thing that was turned into a mutant spawn from hell with way too many things plugged in and onto it and it just begs to finally be put out of its misery and be replaced with a modern solution.
And Exchange and Outlook is one of my personal pet peeves: I have absolutely no idea why people haven't refused using this bloated, locked in and confusing p.o.s. already. I can edit and change attachments in an email I recieved, there are 3 or 4 different key combinations for searching depending on where in the interface I am and on the server side it doesn't get better.
- AndrewDucker 15y agoThe solution to SMTP is simple - an IMAP outbox. Anything placed in that folder is automatically sent by the mail software (and then placed in your Sent folder).
- kahawe 15y ago> automatically sent by the mail software And guess HOW it will be sent out by the local MTA?
- AndrewDucker 15y agoMagic Elves! (Sorry, I was referring to SMTP on the desktop being replaced by this. SMTP seems to do a perfectly good job server->server)
- andor 15y agoThat's just an alternative way of getting messages from the client to the mail server. The problem with SMTP is that mail servers use it to send messages to each other, and that there is no authentication for servers. Since there is no authentication, spammers can just connect to any mail server and dump their messages. On the other hand, it's what makes email an open system, and enables you to receive mails from any other server.
- pornel 15y ago> Since there is no authentication This is mostly solved. You can't just connect to any server, because your "end-user" IP is likely to be in DUL/PBL or other policy-based blacklist. Open Relay is now forbidden and SMTP from end-user to mail server requires authentication. For server<>server communication you need to use SPF at least. Although authentication is theoretically optional, in practice you won't be able to reach many servers without any.
- Navarr 15y agoMSAP actually seeks to address that. The protocol for email includes verification of the sender etc etc.