Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mesquite.charcoal.com!charcoal.com!karl_kleinpaste
From: karl_kleinpaste@charcoal.com
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: Imminent death of UUCP Zone predicted
Message-ID: <KARL.90Jul19233420@mesquite.charcoal.com>
Date: 20 Jul 90 03:34:20 GMT
References: <1198@kosman.UUCP>
Sender: karl_kleinpaste@mesquite.charcoal.com
Organization: Charcoal Communicators
Lines: 41

kevin@kosman.uucp writes:
   I would like to know:
	   1) Can I get registered without paying $100 or more.
	   2) What exactly is an MX record, and where does it go?
	   3) What do I have to do to their sendmail (shudder) to make it
		   deliver mail to my new domain if I get one?
	   4) What do I have to do to smail and/or rmail to make it accept
		   the domain based mail when it comes in.
	   5) What else, if anything, do I have to do to the neighbor's
		   machine to make all this work?

[1] You can get registered for $0.  Really.
[2] An MX RR (Mail eXchanger Resource Record) is an indication of an
    SMTP-reachable site which is willing to be the recipient of mail
    intended for another site, frequently non-SMTP-reachable.  That MX
    host is then expected to figure out the proper way to reach the
    intended destination by whatever means are appropriate, usually
    UUCP.
[3] There's a tweak or two to a .cf which makes it understand that
    delivery to certain domain names should not be performed by SMTP.
    Keep reading.
[4] Smail 2.5 understands domains reasonably well, and can find any
    domain address of any kind via suitable support in
    /usr/lib/uucp/paths, generated with pathalias.  Keep reading.
[5] Your neighbor's machine will require:
	A UUCP connection to your system.
	A .cf change to understand that your domain is actually
	    reached via UUCP.
	A backend (I use smail 2.5 myself) which understands the
	    translation between your domain name and your UUCP
	    name.

When this discussion was still in its youth (as opposed to heading for
rigor mortis now), Terry observed the lack of documentation and
support for getting new sites registered, and I countered with a left
jab...ahem, with an intention to write up such docs and post them here
as a sort of FAQ-style posting.  I haven't had time to finish it up
yet, but it's in progress.  I hope to have it done by the middle of
end of next week.

--karl