Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!ucbvax!mindcrf.UUCP!karish
From: karish@mindcrf.UUCP (Chuck Karish)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Trouble with Path: line...
Message-ID: <9009170656.AA23121@mindcrf.mindcraft.com>
Date: 17 Sep 90 06:56:54 GMT
References: <701@gagme.chi.il.us> <45486@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: Mindcraft, Inc.
Lines: 29

In article <45486@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com> heiby@mcdchg.chg.mcd.mot.com
(Ron Heiby) writes:
[ in response for a query about FQDN in the 'Path: ' header ]

>Technically, the "Path:" header line isn't supposed to be used for
>email replies.  It's only supposed to be used to make sure that news
>articles that have been to your system don't get sent to it again.
>For that purpose, it doesn't matter that your Path line looks the way
>it does.  Of course, for people with defective News/Mail software that
>tries to use the Path line as a reply address, you *do* want to get it
>fixed.

Truncating the system name without registering it won't `fix' anything.

The registration of UUCP map entries assures that host names are
unique.  The local host name of a FQDN need not be unique on all
the Internet and in UUCP land; that's why domains exist, after all.

The deficient mail software will run into problems whether the
name is `fixed' or not.  If it's truncated, UUCP will try to
route the mail through a registered host that's almost certain
to be the wrong one.  If it's not, the local mailer will assume that
the mailer on the Internet host will recognize the next host in
the path by its UUCP name; more likely, the remote mailer will
try to resolve that name within its own local domain.
-- 

	Chuck Karish		karish@mindcraft.com
	Mindcraft, Inc.		(415) 323-9000