Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!nosc!crash!simpact!jeh From: jeh@dcs.simpact.com Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp Subject: Re: How bad From_ lines are handled Message-ID: <1486.26a9d418@dcs.simpact.com> Date: 22 Jul 90 23:28:08 GMT References: Organization: Simpact Associates, San Diego CA Lines: 24 In article , steve@thelake.mn.org (Steve Yelvington) writes: > I noticed a problem tonight with some mail that came in from a > Fidonet gateway. The error message was: [...] > lmail.ttp: Missing or bad From_ line -- no mail delivered. [...] > * Is it common for delivery agents to be this picky? I don't know why > the date would be so darned important. ... It is common, but in my opinion, 100% wrong. A bad From_ line, or for that matter a missing From_ line, should not be considered a fatal error. Sure, the delivered message will be unreplyable by a simple "reply" command, but that's lots better than having no message delivered at all. The same is true for all other headers. RFC822 and etc. notwithstanding, the only thing that's absolutely necessary for mail delivery is the To: line. If the To: line specifies a valid addressee, the mail should be delivered to her or him forthwith. --- Jamie Hanrahan, Simpact Associates, San Diego CA Chair, VMSnet [DECUS uucp] and Internals Working Groups, DECUS VAX Systems SIG Internet: jeh@dcs.simpact.com, or if that fails, jeh@crash.cts.com Uucp: ...{crash,scubed,decwrl}!simpact!jeh