Why the use of domain-literals in email addresses is strongly discouraged?

[Shachar Shemesh]

e2xbegqsdyt21hfc wrote:

> --- On Thu, 4/9/09, Shachar Shemesh wrote:
>
>   
>>> e2xbegqsdyt21hfc wrote:
>>>
>>>   Why the use of someone@[an_explicit_ip_address] is
>>> strongly discouraged?
>>>       
>
>   
>> a. Where did you get the idea it was strongly discouraged?
>>     
>
> Quoting RFC 822:
>
> Note:  THE USE OF DOMAIN-LITERALS IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.  It
>        is  permitted  only  as  a means of bypassing temporary
>        system limitations, such as name tables which  are  not
>        complete.
>
>   
>> b. Why would you WANT to use it?
>>     
>
> I want to test an app by writing a quick/dirty wrapper that sends mail to a single, known, mail server and avoids DNS lookup.
>
>
>
>       
>   
First of all, it sounds like your app falls into the explicit exception 
mentioned in the RFC.

The reason IP based email is discouraged is because it has zero 
resilience to even the slightest change in network configuration. 
Ideally, when you send me email, I want you to know (read - depend on) 
as little as possible about my email setup.

Shachar

-- 
Shachar Shemesh
Lingnu Open Source Consulting Ltd.
http://www.lingnu.com

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