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Re: Need the quote and the author

Tim Goodwin <tim@uunet.pipex.com> Fri, 11 July 1997 10:12 UTC

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To: Edward M Greshko <Edward.M.Greshko@cdc.com>
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Subject: Re: Need the quote and the author
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Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 10:58:57 +0100
From: Tim Goodwin <tim@uunet.pipex.com>
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> There is a quote by someone from a time long ago which goes along the
> lines of being conservative in what you generate and liberal in what you
> receive.

It's from Host Requirements, STD 3, RFC 1123.

>           In other words, make sure that you follow the specs to the
> letter in what you generate, however try to deal with anything reasonable
> that you can anticipate being thrown your way.

No, that's *not* what it means.  The Robustness Principle does not
justify ad hoc extensions to the specification (for example, sendmail
accepting `RCPT TO:tim@uunet.pipex.com').  Study section 1.2.2 of 1123
carefully.

Tim.

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