Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mercury Mail Transport System

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus. Clear consensus not to delete, but a toss-up between keeping at this title and merging. And, if merge, unclear what's the best target. For now, I'll call this NC, and people can continue to discuss a possible merge on the talk pages. -- RoySmith (talk) 01:42, 23 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Mercury Mail Transport System

[Hide this box] New to Articles for deletion (AfD)? Read these primers!

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

not notable in any way. See also its developer page: David Harris (software developer), it is also not notable and is nominated for deletion, thanks. Editor-1 (talk) 05:04, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Software-related deletion discussions. Editor-1 (talk) 07:07, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Merge into David Harris (software developer) - not significant enough for a stand alone article. NealeFamily (talk) 09:39, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Be aware that that article too is up for deletion, unfortunately in some ways not part of that this as a WP:BUNDLE. You may wish to also explore the the other merge target I have suggested below.Djm-leighpark (talk) 09:59, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

~~Speedy keep~~Keep WP:ATD as part of WP:BEFORE should have meant either the article was tagged or the merge of this MTA into the sister MUA Pegasus Mail, but with the keep tagging for issues and optionally a merge proposal which can be sorted outside of AfD which is what is meant to happen. MTA entanglements are not my favourite pastime, MUAs being more use visible, but if this Mercury MTA relates to the mercury MTA at XAMPP then it probably should retain own article status. The harm caused by this article is minimal, the disruption to do a full investigation at AfD is significant and the timing is forced, and a proposal of a Merge in AfD requires the commitmnet to complete the merge promptly after AfD. However while I propose a speedy keep I am aware the conditions are unlikely to have been deemed to be met. I would therefore fallback to a keep with tagging and at worst a merge to Pegasus Mail however I am not in good faith able to give a 100% commitment I would complete the merge in that circumstance ... it is perhaps 60% chance I would complete it promptly. (Edit conflict prepping this message)Djm-leighpark (talk) 09:55, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This forum post leads me to believe Mercury has a very significant role recently/currently? as the MTA in XAMPP. Together with its earlier role the 1990s? for Netware I am strongly recommending for a keep, though resources for that period will likely be offline and might need search of an archive like Bletchley Park. The Speedy Keep opportunity has passed and I am recommending keep with article tagging. While the Pegagsus Mail MUA and Mercury MTA are from the same stable and perhaps often used together and will often be applied separately also and because of different and non simple lifecycles and development are best kept separate.Djm-leighpark (talk) 14:32, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a 2012 page on How to use Mercury Mail in XAMPP. Pol098 (talk) 15:13, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

merge well as the nominator, I think now it should be merged into Pegasus Mail, they have also a common web-site. Editor-1 (talk) 10:53, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Keep or possibly merge into an appropriately-named article. I'm thinking of Mercury's historical importance, which unfortunately isn't reflected in the article at present. When Novell Netware was the networking system, before Microsoft had any network server capability, Mercury running on a Netware server as an NLM, together with Pegasus running on MS-DOS workstations, was a very usual mail system for both internal and external mail, maybe the principal or only one, I don't know—mail wasn't as important then as it is now, Mercury/Pegasus was a pioneer. A Windows network implementation followed much later. Pol098 (talk) 11:59, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of New Zealand-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:47, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Computing-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 11:47, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Keep I am kind going on what Djm-leighpark and Pol098 posted above, I don't know how well Mercury Mail was used or if was as popular as Pegasus however from I know it was one of the main LAN mail tools of the 1990s along with Novell Netware. The article feels a bit weak on sources maybe that can be fixed, but I prefer to keep as is, instead of any merge. Govvy (talk) 13:56, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

"I don't know ... if Mercury Mail was as popular as Pegasus". It wasn't an "either/or", they're not alternatives. On a network you could either have each workstation with its own mail client, using the network only to store each user's mail on the file server, or a fully networked mail system. Pegasus MS-DOS or possibly Apple Mac workstations worked with Mercury running on the Netware server; Mercury exchanged mail with the Internet, and collected it from and forwarded it to Pegasus on workstations. Pegasus for MS-DOS was not a non-networked free-standing mail client. A relevant quote, written after Windows 3 was in use: "Unlike the Windows versions of Pegasus Mail, the DOS version does not have built-in support for the Internet POP3, SMTP or IMAP protocols, because there is no standard TCP/IP interface for DOS-based computers. However, by adding our Mercury Mail Transport System as a mail server, you can provide fully-integrated centralized Internet e-mail services and mailing list management for your Pegasus Mail users." (http://www.pmail.com/overviews/ovw_pmail.htm) Pol098 (talk) 14:25, 15 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.