| 1 |
On 21/08/20 02:39, Caveman Al Toraboran wrote: |
| 2 |
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ |
| 3 |
> On Thursday, August 20, 2020 11:41 AM, antlists <antlists@××××××××××××.uk> wrote: |
| 4 |
> |
| 5 |
>> Will that python script allow for the situation that the message is |
| 6 |
>> received, but the message was NOT safely stored for onwards transmission |
| 7 |
>> before the receiver crashed, and as such the message has not been |
| 8 |
>> SUCCESSFULLY received? |
| 9 |
>> |
| 10 |
>> SMTP has lots of things specifically meant to ensure messages survive |
| 11 |
>> the internet jungle on their journey ... |
| 12 |
> |
| 13 |
> thanks for the point. would it suffice if we have |
| 14 |
> these notifications: |
| 15 |
|
| 16 |
You're re-inventing the wheel. |
| 17 |
> |
| 18 |
> 1. receipt by final mail server (mandatory). |
| 19 |
|
| 20 |
This is part of SMTP already, in that each server (post office) |
| 21 |
acknowledges that the message has been received AND SAFELY STORED. |
| 22 |
Without that last guarantee, "receipt by the server" isn't worth |
| 23 |
diddley-squat. |
| 24 |
|
| 25 |
> 2. receipt by end user(s) (optional). |
| 26 |
|
| 27 |
This is part of current mail protocol - dunno what it's called but I can |
| 28 |
switch on a flag in Thunderbird, and I will get a message back saying my |
| 29 |
email is in the recipient's inbox. |
| 30 |
|
| 31 |
> 3. opening by end user(s) (optional). |
| 32 |
|
| 33 |
Likewise, I will get a notification that the email has been "read". |
| 34 |
> |
| 35 |
> ? |
| 36 |
> |
| 37 |
> ---- |
| 38 |
> |
| 39 |
> (1) is required by the server, else mail will be |
| 40 |
> retransmitted from source relay(s) (or client if |
| 41 |
> done directly). (2) is optional by final server, |
| 42 |
> (3) is optional by end user's client. |
| 43 |
> |
| 44 |
> the job of a relay would be to optionally add some |
| 45 |
> metadata (e.g. maybe describing sender's role) and |
| 46 |
> sign the whole thing (e.g. by company's private |
| 47 |
> key). this way we can have group-level rules. |
| 48 |
> |
| 49 |
Except that SMTP allows for the fact that a message may (or may not) |
| 50 |
pass through several post-offices on the way. The old internet thing of |
| 51 |
"don't assume any computer will survive a nuclear attack - take whatever |
| 52 |
route you can find ..." so there is no guarantee that a relay going in |
| 53 |
one direction will even see a message going back in the other. |
| 54 |
|
| 55 |
And as an example of how hard this is, look at what a mess the telcos |
| 56 |
have made of SMS, which is basically the same thing! How often on New |
| 57 |
Year's Eve do (or did) the system fall over so all the "Happy New Year" |
| 58 |
messages either disappeared, or arrived several days late ... |
| 59 |
|
| 60 |
Cheers, |
| 61 |
Wol |
Archives