Hacker News Reader

That was my first thought, the author seems to like three-letters, I don't know why `sql` is better than `db` for database, considering not all databases are based on the SQL standard, and `mta` for mail server? Really?

View on HN

It is easy for the hacker news crowd to forget this in an age of google apps, but lots of organizations run their own -- possibly substantial -- email services, and in a well-scaled email setup the mta may be a completely separate machine from the mda/msa/mra.

Having a "mail server" might be fine for lots of places, but having disparate machines with specific functions is not invalid.

Author here...the important thing isn't the abbreviations, but having a standard that you can agree upon and use consistently. The listed items are just an example scheme that tries to keep the length consistent to make scanning though a list visually a little easier.

I think you should make that more clear. It doesn't say anywhere in the article "for example, you could use something like this".

Reply on news.ycombinator.com