Re: [idn] New protocol proposal: IDNRA

[John C Klensin <klensin@jck.com>]

--On Wednesday, 30 August, 2000 16:17 -0700 "A. Vine"
<avine@eng.sun.com> wrote:

> I liken it to the deployment of new browser versions.
> Certainly a year is not enough to expect.  I'd give it closer
> to 4 years.

Andrea,

Once we do i18n DNS names (directly or indirectly), there will
be instant pressure to permit i18n externally-referenced file
system names and, of course, email addresses.  Assuming one
accepts four years for browser versions, what do you think the
deployment rate is for 

* MUAs and MTAs and message stores ?
* FTP clients & servers ? 
* Telnet clients & servers ?

Let's be optimistic and assume 90% penetration is enough and not
insist on 95 or 100%.

I invite you to dispute the figures I'm about to give but...

- A large fraction of U**x systems are still running the
original Berkeley FTP clients (and Windows 2000 contains, as far
as I can tell, a clone of one).  20 years?

- There are a non-trivial number of people (I don't know if it
is anywhere near 10%) who started believing that "cat" was a
mail reader back when uucp intersystem mail was introduced into
U**x and who haven't changed their minds.   25 years?

And I won't even bother with the non-U**x examples, on the
theory that the older ones are below that 10% residual threshold.

    john