Wietse:
> This transformation would be needed only when sending mail between
> systems that don't support non-ASCII addresses. Just like MIME
> 8-7bit conversion, the need for it goes away over time.
Viktor Dukhovni:
> There would be a benefit to long-term Punycode localpart addresses.
I don't think that crutches like this should be deployed in eternity.
What we need is a legitimate transformation that allows mail to
flow between MTAs with and without standardized UTF8 support. Once
enough systems support standardized UTF8, the crutches can go away.
We need the transformation only to enable an orderly transition.
An example of this is the MIME 8bit-to-7bit transformation. It
took care of differences between MTAs without bothering users.
By now, all relevant MTAs are 8-bit clean.
If we can do no better than telling users "you need to resend your
UTF8 email in a different format" then I find that appalling.
Systems should take care of such details. If they don't, then users
will switch to something else.
Wietse
