[ietf-dkim] on the suitability of the From header field

[domainkeys-feedbackbase02 at yahoo.com]

> If end-users today are accustomed to thinking the message was sent by 
> RFC2822.From, they will need to be educated, and they may also need 
> better MUAs that make the distinction clear.  But I don't think most 
> end-users are this naive or incapable of understanding the difference. 

Sure. But do end-users want to, and should they have to?

Just because a rickety old standard technically makes it possible to
distinguish between a confusion of originating, authoring, authorizing,
resending and non-delivery report addresses, does not imply that it should  be
imposed on the billion or so end-users who have little choice but to use that
standard.

It's also an interesting presumption that it is the end-user that needs
educating about the, er, richness of email addressing. Perhaps it's more
important for us implementors to be educated about how end-users really want to
think about email addressing and adapt our thinking to their needs?

Personally, I'm developing the suspicion that end-users have been using email
long enough now that we should be noticing the demand for complex
originating/sender addressing - especially in such a competitive and diverse
marketplace. But at least from where I sit, the evidence is slim at best.


Mark.