RFC 453 (rfc453) - Page 2 of 3

Meeting announcement to discuss a network mail system

RFC 453         Meeting to Discuss a Network Mail System   February 1973


        A suggestion made in the past to have a typewriter type terminal
        permanently attached to TIP's to record all hardcopy messages
        directed to that TIP should be reviewed.

We (SRI-ARC) have been looking into the problem of using the File
Transfer Protocol to allow NIC Journal mail to be sent and delivered
over the Network, without the user having to know and use NLS.  We
intend to integrate this function with the Tenex SNDMSG capabilities.
For some preliminary internal ARC discussion on this subject, you may be
interested in reading two Journal items, one by Charles Irby (IJOURNAL,
14308,1:w) and the other by Jim White (IJOURNAL, 14312,1:w).

    We realize that there are many benefits to this approach, but would
    like to have such a scheme fit into an agreed upon Network wide
    message and document sending protocol.

    Especially important to us is that questions concerning user and
    site identification, recorded and unrecorded dialogue, and
    coordination among other mail subsystems on the Network, be fully
    understood and mutually resolved at the design level before
    implementation work proceeds.

    We therefore want to discuss these issues at the Network Mail
    meeting February 22.

Role of the NIC

In conjunction with the above discussion, we will consider offering the
services of the Network Information Center in three related areas:

    to implement and maintain identification files for all network users
    and sites;

        (These files could be made available in sequential form through
        a standard socket so that Network sites could either query them
        or periodically obtain updated copy.)

    to record in the NIC Journal that mail which the sender wishes to
    have recorded, and to catalogue those items for later reference;

    to distribute Journal or message mail through the Network via File
    Transfer Protocols if requested;

    to provide and use NIC dialogue group identifications, in order to
    make it simpler to send items to several persons who had a common
    interest.





Kudlick