Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!deimos.cis.ksu.edu!mccall!tp From: tp@mccall.com Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp Subject: Re: Standard site aliases, are there any? Message-ID: <4.26d001c9@mccall.com> Date: 20 Aug 90 15:29:12 GMT References: <5376@thebes.Thalatta.COM> <3375.26c682a3@mccall.com> <30@raysnec.UUCP> Organization: The McCall Pattern Co., Manhattan, KS, USA Lines: 34 In article <30@raysnec.UUCP>, shwake@raysnec.UUCP (Ray Shwake) writes: > tp@mccall.com writes: > >> ... Repeat after me: "uucp has no >>standards". > > For an environment that "has no standards", interoperability is > rather remarkable! It might be more precise to argue that: > 1) uucp does not address issues of concern to some users; > 2) uucp does not behave in accord with some users' requirements; > 3) uucp does not insist that users act in some desired way. > > Lighten up, guys! UUCP is a remarkably elegant solution to many > requirements. If it doesn't meet your needs, find something that > does. But try to keep things in perspective. All that is true too, but so is what I said. A standard means you can count on it. The "uucp mail network" has no standards (the uucp protocol is another matter). You can't count on things in the uucp world, like the existance of a postmaster alias (the original question). Remember that for a long time C had no actual standard, but was arguably the most portable language in wide usage! You can have a high level of interoperability without standards. The original poster was asking about standard mail aliases. There are none for a uucp site that is not RFC822 conformant. If I send mail to postmaster on an internet site and get a bounce saying invalid user name, I have a legitimate gripe. I can tell them they are doing it wrong. Not so for a uucp site. That is the effect of standards. -- Terry Poot The McCall Pattern Company (uucp: ...!rutgers!ksuvax1!mccall!tp) 615 McCall Road (800)255-2762, in KS (913)776-4041 Manhattan, KS 66502, USA