RFC 788 · UNKNOWN · 1981
MON · 27 JUL 2026
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Overview
RFC 788, “Simple Mail Transfer Protocol”, is an Unknown document published in November 1981 by J. Postel. It obsoletes RFC 780. It has been obsoleted by RFC 821 — refer to the newer document for the authoritative version. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
What “Unknown” means
The standards-track status of this early RFC was never formally classified.
Read this RFC
The canonical text of RFC 788 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
Relationships to other RFCs
Other RFCs from 1981
- RFC 787 Connectionless data transmission survey/tutorial
- RFC 789 Vulnerabilities of network control protocols: An example
- RFC 786 Mail Transfer Protocol: ISI TOPS20 MTP-NIMAIL interface
- RFC 790 Assigned numbers
- RFC 785 Mail Transfer Protocol: ISI TOPS20 file definitions
- RFC 791 Internet Protocol
- RFC 784 Mail Transfer Protocol: ISI TOPS20 implementation
- RFC 792 Internet Control Message Protocol