[ih] SMTP History

[Craig Partridge]

Dear Emiliano:

 I wrote a history for IEEE History of Computing that covers much of this
ground.  I was able to talk to a lot of the people involved in early
developments in Email (including SMTP), some of whom are now deceased.
http://emailhistory.org/papers/partridge-email.pdf

Specifically on SMTP, it was a rethinking of MTP.  MTP was created by
Sluizer and Postel.  There was a rumor at the time that the most vocal and
insightful critic of MTP was Peter Kirstein but I was never able to confirm
that (note 82 observes that Sluizer remembered Postel talking about
"people" with concerns).  In any case, Postel created SMTP in response to
feedback about MTP and I sketch a logical path to SMTP from some of the
work Sluizer and Postel did, which may have inspired Jon's solution.

Craig

On Mon, Mar 28, 2022 at 10:41 AM Emiliano Spinella via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> Lately, I have been looking for information regarding the history of SMTP
> but could not find much information.
>
> Basically, I am interested in the initial Email system protocols and how
> SMTP got its final form. I imagine there must have been multiple protocol
> alternatives for Email but somehow SMTP became a standard.
>
> Were there some relevant milestones that helped SMTP to become broadly
> adopted? I imagine there must have been some important institution or set
> of institutions that drove the adoption.
>
> Also, is there any reason why POP3 and later IMAP were not part of SMTP?
>
> I was wondering if somebody in this list could give me some light.
>
> Thanks,
> Emiliano
>
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