[UA-EAI] [UA-discuss] UASG blog on UASG030A report

[Jim DeLaHunt]

EAI WG:

I thought this exchange on the UA-discuss list was interesting, and 
could help us improve our "Self-Certification of EAI Support guide.


On 2021-08-11 04:31, Maria Kolesnikova via UA-discuss wrote:
>
>
>     UASG Adds Spam Filter Testing to Evaluation of Internationalized
>     Email Support Among Global Systems
>
> The UASG’s most recent evaluation (UASG030A 
> <https://uasg.tech/wp-content/uploads/documents/EAI-Software-Test%20Results-UASG030A.pdf>)… 
> is an extension to UASG030 
> <https://uasg.tech/wp-content/uploads/documents/UASG030-en-digital.pdf>, 
> which tested more than a dozen systems and identified a handful – 
> Apple iOS 14 <https://www.apple.com/in/ios/ios-14/features/>, Coremail 
> <https://mail.icoremail.net/>, Courier <http://www.courier-mta.org/>, 
> Exim <https://www.exim.org/>, Postfix <http://www.postfix.org/>, 
> Roundcube <https://roundcube.net/> – with positive EAI-readiness.…
>

On 2021-08-13 23:01, Mike Hemp via UA-discuss wrote:
> Looks like few mistake.
> Roundcude do not provide Email Addresses , it can not be L2. It should L1
> Apple iOS Mail 14.x - it can not be L2 , it should be L1
> Postfix do not provide EAI addresses
> L2= L1 + provides local EAI addresses
> We all know roundcube and Apple Mail do not provide email addresses.
> XgenPlus / Coremail provides these addresses today.

On 2021-08-14 08:54, John Levine via UA-discuss wrote:
> No, the report is correct.
>
> Roundcube and Apple iOS Mail are MUAs, user mail programs that work in 
> connection with MSAs and MDAs.  When configured to work with an L2 
> mail server such as Courier or Postfix, they both provide good L2 mail 
> service.… Postfix is an MSA and MTA which also provides good L2 mail 
> service when configured with EAI addresses.…

[Emails abbreviated by DeLaHunt. Archive at 
https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ua-discuss/2021-August/003988.html .]

I think Mike Hemp's objection is understandable, based on one 
understanding of what the levels mean. But we want readers of the Guide 
to have a different understanding. I think we should take care that the 
Guide makes the understanding clear to readers. We should check it using 
John's reply.

Only certain email tools and utilities actually host email mailboxes and 
define addresses. Other tools process messages, or serve as a UI, but do 
not host mailboxes. Users will want a complete system, of multiple 
parts, which together support globally inclusive (EAI) mailboxes and 
addresses, process messages, show a UI, and work well together. The 
Email Utilities Guide can be used to self-certify any of these tools and 
utilities individually. It must be clear how to combine certifications 
of individual parts into confidence that the system will work.

Mike is pointing out that components like Apple iOS Mail app and 
Roundcube do not host email addresses. John is pointing out that they 
are not designed to. Mike takes the definition of Level 2 to apply only 
to the component actually hosts an email address. What I read implicit 
in John's reply is that a component can be certified as ready (or not 
ready) to work as part of a system which hosts globally inclusive email 
addresses, even if that component does not itself host the email address.

I think we should take care that the Guide has a section where the 
reader can figure out how to evaluate the rating of a system from the 
rating of its components. Perhaps the rule will be that a Gold-level MUA 
is required in order to combine with a Gold-level mail server and 
produce a Gold-level system. But the Guide should make the rule for 
systems clear.

Best regards,
     —Jim DeLaHunt

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