Re: [Gen-art] Review: draft-klensin-smtp-521code-05.txt

[Barry Leiba <[e-mail]>]

Joel, thanks for the review.

> Minor issues:
>     The description of the 556 reply code in section 4 seems to switch
> between refering to the generating entity as a client and as a sesrver.  I
> presume this is because the actual sitaution is an SMTP server is trying to
> pass information onwards, and in that onwards direction it is a client
> which.  But it is still confusing for an SMTP client to make a determination
> and then an SMTP server which is apparently the same entity to generate the
> rror code to some other SMPT client.

You're right about why, and you're right that it's confusing.  I think
the reader and the text would be better served by changing the first
instance of the word "client" (in the second sentence) to "server".
Even though the server is acting as a client when it makes the
determination that sentence is talking about, it's acting as a server
in the sense that it will be returning a 556 to the client that it's
serving.  Calling it a "client" here only confuses things.

Barry