Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!TRANSARC.COM!Craig_Everhart
From: Craig_Everhart@TRANSARC.COM
Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail
Subject: Re: Inexact addresses
Message-ID: <8bPylJb0BwwOQcybBW@transarc.com>
Date: 19 Dec 90 22:40:21 GMT
References: <1990Dec19.202600.3018@engin.umich.edu>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
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AMDS (Andrew Message Delivery System, part of the Andrew software
available on the X.V11R4 tape) functions as a back-end to sendmail--or
any other mailer--in the way that you suggest.  That is, it is a local
mail delivery system that runs addresses through a heuristic match if
the straightforward match fails.  It's well suited for running on top of
AFS, in which the number of ``local users'' in an AFS cell can range up
to 10^4 (and beyond).  To hook sendmail to AMDS, you have to tell
sendmail to leave local addresses alone, which means that you have to
invent another mailer besides the one called ``local'', and send all
local mail to that new mailer (which is just the submission point to
AMDS).

You do run a risk when you deliver to heuristic name matches.  When I
was more involved with andrew.cmu.edu, we decided to bounce mail unless
there was an exact match for surname or userid.  This doesn't stop AMDS
from bouncing even a unique fuzzy match: it simply tells you a bit about
the user and lets you know a working address for that person.  Send a
message to somerandomaddress@andrew.cmu.edu for an example.

		Craig