[svlug] Outbound email and MAPS and RBL and AOL and ugh!

[Mike Castle]

On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 01:04:06PM -0500, Walt Reed wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 09:34:49AM -0800, Mike Castle said:
> > If you just configure exim to always forward your mail through your ISP,
> > then you don't have to worry about maintaining a moron list.
> 
> Several issues with this including:
> * Many ISP's email servers are not reliable

Then get a different ISP.  And be sure the let the ISP you're leaving know
why.

> * Some ISP's only allow you to use addresses that contain their domain

Same as above.

> * You lose the ability to actually track what happened to the email
>   completely. ("my email to you is stuck in the spool because your email
>   server isn't accepting connections...") This is huge actually. Many
>   times you won't know that an email can't be delivered for DAYS while
>   the relay continues to retry.

Email was never intended to be an instaneous communication.  Any
expectations otherwise are unfounded.

> * You and the recipient support TLS yet the relay does not

Again, vote with your pocket book and get a different ISP.

I've seen these arguments over and over.  They've always been bogus.  

mrc
-- 
     Mike Castle      dalgoda at ix.netcom.com      www.netcom.com/~dalgoda/
    We are all of us living in the shadow of Manhattan.  -- Watchmen
fatal ("You are in a maze of twisty compiler features, all different"); -- gcc