Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!ames!lll-winken!uunet!bfmny0!tneff
From: tneff@bfmny0.UUCP (Tom Neff)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc
Subject: Re: sigh (was Re: Short-circuiting a route)
Message-ID: <14467@bfmny0.UUCP>
Date: 13 Jul 89 02:23:43 GMT
References: <1062@aber-cs.UUCP> <59767@uunet.UU.NET> <3648@ncar.ucar.edu> <3842@phri.UUCP> <330@capmkt.COM> <Jul.12.10.54.13.1989.18547@NET.BIO.NET>
Reply-To: tneff@bfmny0.UUCP (Tom Neff)
Organization: ^
Lines: 20

Ah'm just a simpul country lawyuh <snuffle>, but isn't the following true?

 * If I am site X, and site Y is a direct neighbor of mine whom I poll
   daily or better (maybe better than anyone else if it's worse than daily),
   but I see a piece of incoming mail of the form a!b!X!c!d!e!Y!f!g,
   then it's reasonable for me to reroute it as a!b!X!Y!f!g.

 * If my link to site Y is sick, then I ought to respect the longer path.

 * If no site in the bang path is a direct neighbor of mine, then I ought
   to consult pathalias for the link to the site named rightward of mine,
   and leave the rest of it the hell alone.

 * In the first case mentioned above, if site Y does not know me by
   name (i.e., the bang path is not reversible), then I ought to respect
   the longer supplied path.  [I think this is where most mail bounces
   these days, no?]
-- 
"My God, Thiokol, when do you     \\	Tom Neff
want me to launch -- next April?"  \\	uunet!bfmny0!tneff