Re: mailbox format(s)

On 26-feb-04, at 13:37, Bruce Lilly wrote:

>> And as long as we're doing this, it would be a good idea to define a
>> solid mailbox format that can be used to share access to messages by
>> different applications.

> I don't think that's practical:
> 1. platform differences affecting file sizes, ability to control 
> access,
>    ability to lock portions of a file for update, etc., not to mention
>    record-oriented systems (e.g. Bitnet),

So? We're not saying "you're not allowed to use any other format than 
this", just "if you want to interoperate with other implementations, 
this is the format you should use for that".

> differences in line endings, bit- and byte-ordering, etc. ad infinitum

This stuff should be kept in the format set by the sender.

> IETF doesn't generally define storage formats, rather formats used for
> network transfer.

It seems rather silly to build a store-and-forward messaging system and 
then only standardize the "forward" part and not the "store" part.