Path: utzoo!utstat!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!karl_kleinpaste From: karl_kleinpaste@cis.ohio-state.edu Newsgroups: news.software.nntp Subject: Re: May an NNTP client omit the Message-ID header line? Message-ID: Date: 11 Jul 90 02:57:11 GMT References: <1990Jul10.182236.1@arizona.edu> Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: OSU Lines: 18 leonard@arizona.edu writes: It appears that many popular U*x-based NNTP news readers, such as xrn, rrn and nn, do not provide such a header line. In response, ANU rejects the post with NNTP Serious Error: 441 Invalid headers - Message_ID: header missing.. Yet U*x NNTP V1.5.? quite happily accepts postings from such machines. Yes, it's required, sort of. It's supposed to be provided, and many posting interfaces (e.g., GNUS) adhere to the requirement and generate something suitable (if grotesque; see the Message-ID that appears in this article -- ick). However, the action in a UNIX NNTP server on receipt of a POST command is to read the article and then hand it blindly to "inews -h." Inews is quite happy to add a Message-ID during posting if it's not already there. --karl