🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec30.072811.3737@robohack.UUCP> woods@robohack.UUCP (Greg A. Woods) writes:
> In article <1992Dec28.171751.25819@chance.gts.org> john@chance.gts.org (John R MacMillan) writes:
> > I apologize for the length, but this is something I feel fairly
> > strongly about.  Sprinkle liberally with IMHOs.
> 
> Here Here!  Thanks John!
> 
> > My position on this is that receipts are only genuinely useful if they
> > are guaranteed.  Since we can't get this with the loose email net we
> > have, it's not useful.
> 
> I'll go even further:  they are "dangerous" in the sense that they
> provide incomplete information a false sense of security.  As John
> said later in his article -- "User expectation is perhaps the biggest
> problem."  User's I know who say they like this feature are
> *completely* mislead by it.
> 
> I'll re-iterate too that even if you get a response, then there's no
> guarantee the remote reader will be able to respond, since there's no
> way to track between the MTA which thinks it performed final delivery,
> and the MUA.

Personally, I'm *quite* happy to know that the user's "system" got
it.  It gives a least some degree of assurance (and besides it makes
me feel all warm inside!).

> If you want to get a message through to someone, the only sure way to
> receive confirmation is out-of-band from the original delivery channel.
So, no reply then telephone?  Of course, if you get the person's voice
mail you're in the same pickle ... how about a personal visit
(assuming that the person is not on vacation and still works there!???)

> How about updating the mail standards to say that such features are
> not permitted!  :-)
Tut, tut!  :-/

Doesn't X.400 have a means of verifying receipt?

				    -Robert.
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