Re: my 2 cents worth

Ian Duncan <id@cc.mcgill.ca> Tue, 07 June 1994 21:30 UTC

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Date: Tue, 07 Jun 1994 17:24:42 -0400
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From: Ian Duncan <id@cc.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Re: my 2 cents worth
To: Michael D'Errico <Mike@software.com>
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On Tue, 7 Jun 1994, Michael D'Errico wrote:
>
> I think that characters from Base64 are too restrictive.  Base64 exists
> because of the need to gateway messages between different mail systems,
> some of which have horrible constraints.  With POP, you have an 8-bit
> connection between client and server to work with.

I know the origin of base64. I was suggesting we avoid tokens that are
long strings of ascii and instead use very large numbers, encoded in
base64 to keep the representation short -- 24 digits of base64 can carry
2^144 bits in a safe, documented, well understood and easy to decode
format. 

I think the premise that POP implies an 8 bit path between ends is a
little dangerous. In the absence of words to the contrary in the RFC I'd 
assume printable ascii and very selected controls.

   ...   ian   <id@cc.mcgill.ca>
Ian Duncan  ---  McGill University Computing Centre  ---  +.514.398.3710