> > It is reasonable to demand time to upgrade, so that there are no > > interoperability problems. It is not reasonable to demand that this > > 7-bit garbage be allowed to remain on the network forever, at the > > expense of all future implementors and users. > > forever is a long time. and yet, even if all use of quoted-printable > were to cease today, there would still be a need for new MUAs to be > able to read old messages stored on servers for many more years, perhaps > decades. > > using raw utf-8 in message headers wouldn't replace 2047. instead, > it would add yet another format that MUAs are expected to parse > and display. it would not reduce complexity, it would add to it. If we add new MIME headers and ESMTP commands, MUA and MTA should be able to have a smooth transition from 7bit encoded 8bits to UTF8. If there is a requirement of change anyway, why not change it to something that is more simple and well support by the Unicode Consortium.