Peter van Dijk wrote:
> > this [hypothetical] architecture could result in something similar
> > to usenet
>
> Do note that usenet was never designed to guarantee message delivery.
> Usenet was designed for non-reliable wide-scale messaging.
I just meant, it is another architecture where you have redunant
data on widely spaced peers.
Later, imagining that Bowman wants to guarantee to the corporal in the
battlefield who has e-mailed his situation in to HQ, that his smtp 250
from the server means the message will get through even if his immediate
mail server gets hit by a missle immediately after sending the code.
To implement this, the server would, before issuing the 250, open
a channel to a peer and copy the message as far away as possible -- or
even attempt immediate delivery -- all BEFORE giving the 250 response.
So, 250 on this smtpd does not merely mean "I have taken responsibility
for transferring this message" but "I have transferred the message off site
already"
destination MUAs would need to discard based on redundant message IDs,
et cetera
I'll stop now...
