Re: Philosophical discussions

Frank Ellermann <[email protected]> wrote:
> Even in that simple and normal case I have a chance to get it
> wrong, secondary MX forwards to primary MX, primary MX tests
> SPF, FAIL => your sender policy does of course not permit the
> IP of my secondary MX, I forgot to white list this beast.
> 
> That's not necessarily "internal",

  It's internal to the trust boundary of your domain.  I have no way
of knowing that it's a secondary, and you do.

> "Philosophical discussions" about design flaws 16 years after
> the fact are difficult - with Wayne's time machine I wouldn't
> go back to 2003, but jump directly on the desktop of the 1123
> editors.  With a loaded gun... ;-)

  The purpose of philosophical discussions are to obtain a common
agreement as to the intent of the system.  If no one can agree on
*why* the system exists, or *what* it's supposed to be doing, then
talking about *how* is a waste of time.

  But the discussions I've seen have focussed on "how", and have
steadfastly avoided the "why".  The existence proof of the email
system is nice, but a collection of patches over time can result in a
system that no one intended to build.  Proof: the spam problem.
  
  Alan DeKok.