"SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services)
"SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services)
Posted Jan 15, 2026 18:51 UTC (Thu) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630)In reply to: Forwarding services by yodermk
Parent article: A note for MXroute users
Not at all. Email is fantastic and there's nothing else that can do what it does.
I don't see a successor to SMTP coming along any time soon because no proposed successor has managed to have all of the following SMTP features:
- No need for a central login or central identity authority.
- If you know someone's email address, you can communicate with them with no prior arrangement.
- There are multiple independent implementations, including open-source ones.
- Communication is non-realtime; if someone's not around when you send an email, they'll see it next time they check.
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