What is there about complicated or difficult to decipher bounced email messages that are so attractive to email server administrators? Are they all techies that believe only fellow techies should send email?

I know the codes associated with bounced emails are well entrenched and see no reason to change them, but I find it hard to believe that none of this software enables sysadmins to actually configure the wording and layout of the bounce message to actually be meaningful easy to understand to non techies (and software tasked with deleting bounced email addresses as well. To quote an article on handling bounces “In fact, there are over one thousand seven hundred different formats recognized today by those who study email deliverability, and the number is increasing.”

Why can’t some kind of standards be set? And even if none are set, is there really any reason why the first line or 2 of the bounce message can’t say something like:

Error ### - User Mailbox over quota ( or whatever the delivery problem is)

Why do many bounce messages require you to scroll through multiple lines of header code to find out why it bounced? If sysadmins frown so badly on multiple bounced emails to their mail server, why do they make it so difficult to figure out who needs deletion from our mailings?

A pretty good explanation of what goes with bounced email can be found in Bounced Email? Deal With It! by Edward Grossman for those who want a better understanding in terms most of us can understand.