Subject: [Endymail] Could we converge on one message format?

From: Phillip Hallam-Baker <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:41:26 -0400

At the moment we have S/MIME, PGP and PGP/MIME bindings.

None is completely satisfactory as implemented in the running code.
All the formats pass the subject header in the clear for a start. PGP
is highly unsatisfactory as it does not support attachments and
PGP/MIME addresses that problem in theory but does not have all the
testing S/MIME has.

Is it possible we could converge on one message format that would be
adopted as the common spec for future implementations?

The reason I am raising this is that right now some folk are working
on WebMail that is end to end. And surprising as it might seem, it is
quite practical to have end-to-end WebMail. We do have to extend the
Web specs however.

If we make a decision now, it could potentially be a point of
convergence. The email world has adopted HTML from the Web, they will
pull in a message format. BUT only if they can do that in a
straightforward way and whatever message format is chosen supports
PKIX keying and attachments.

Right/wrong track?