The Lumber Cartel, local 42 (Canadian branch)
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Glossary - Electronic Mail

The term "Electronic Mail" (a.k.a., "Internet Mail") is almost always abbreviated as either "eMail" or "E-Mail" (we like to use "eMail" while others may prefer their own variations of capitalisation, with or without the hyphen).  Any variation is correct as far as we're concerned, as long as it is used consistently.

Very similar in concept to voicemail, except that the message is sent and received through the operation of a computer terminal instead of a telephone.  In fact, the vast majority of modern voicemail systems are merely computers that run specialized software mostly under a Unix/Linux, OS/2, or Windows operating system on a typical PC connected directly to the telephone system instead of a keyboard.

Many people commonly compare eMail to postal mail, but the flaws in this metaphor begin to stand out when one considers costs.  More similarities can be found with voicemail systems in the telecommunications industry.

Standards

The standards that the internet is built on are defined in a series of documents (that currently number in the thousands) called RFCs (Request For Comments), and generally contain highly technical information that is, in particular, useful to developers and systems administrators.  The format of eMail messages is defined in RFC 2822 (which obsoletes RFC 822).  The protocol used to transfer eMail from client-to-server and server-to-server is defined in RFC 2821 (which obsoletes RFC 821).

See also

 
 
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