Xref: utzoo comp.mail.misc:2568 comp.mail.sendmail:1136
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!sharkey!math.lsa.umich.edu!emv
From: emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc,comp.mail.sendmail
Subject: Re: How serious is the at->@ problem?
Message-ID: <10116@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>
Date: 9 Nov 89 04:40:51 GMT
References: <7867@ditmela.oz>
Sender: news@math.lsa.umich.edu
Reply-To: emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti)
Organization: University of Michigan Math Dept., Ann Arbor
Lines: 23

In article <7867@ditmela.oz> smart@ditmela.oz.au (Robert Smart) writes:
>I know that names ending in .at (i.e. Austria) have caused problems
>with at->@ mail rewriting rules. I have recently commented out at->@
>from our sendmail.cf for this reason. By coincedence the Australia
>Telescope would like to set up their computers as machine.at.csiro.au.
>The question is: is an "at" in the middle of a domain name like that
>likely to cause problems with broken mailer software around the place?
>I would particularly like to hear from anybody else who has a ".at."
>in their domain name (or in a domain name they know about).

There's an 'at.man.ac.uk' at an astronomy department in Manchster,
which triggered my awareness of the problem.  You might want to
ask them as well.

I'd discourage them (sigh) unless you're willing to send out a lot of
mail on their behalf to people (like me right now, sigh) who have
said broken mailers.  Not much mail goes to Austria yet, and there's
no ridiculously popular service or person there, so chances are this
at->@ bug is still in a good many sendmail.cf's.

--Ed (at this point making a patch for my sendmail.cf's....)

Edward Vielmetti, U of Michigan math dept