Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!udel!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!rain.andrew.cmu.edu!ddean From: ddean@rain.andrew.cmu.edu (Drew Dean) Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail Subject: Re: Sendmail host canonicalization broken? Message-ID: <12665@pt.cs.cmu.edu> Date: 13 Apr 91 23:55:16 GMT References: <3006@weber.sw.mcc.com> <1991Apr12.235346.28444@mp.cs.niu.edu> Organization: Carnegie Mellon University Lines: 25 In article <1991Apr12.235346.28444@mp.cs.niu.edu> rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) writes: | 2. Here is a good reason for turning off RES_DNSRCH: | Suppose someone in your French department has a machine called | eiffel.fr.mcc.com. (OK. You aren't a University, and you don't | have a French Department. But let's pretend here for a moment.) | Now imagine you wish to send a message to 'user@eiffel.fr' -- the | real eiffel.fr, that is, in France. You can't if RES_DNSRCH is | turned on, because it will always go to your French department. | Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science I'm not a real sendmail hacker (I got 5.61 working on my machine and quit at that), but if you can't send mail in this case to user@eiffel.fr. <-- note the final period !, then sendmail is _really_ broken. The final period is defined to indicate this is a complete domain name, and should not be expanded -- otherwise, think of the problems with Czechoslovakia having the domain .cs -- how much mail would ever escape the local CS departments ? :-) [Alas, I'd say some systems probably do have this problem, but it seems (in general) that CS departments do a better-than-average job of system administration....] -- Drew Dean Drew_Dean@rain.andrew.cmu.edu [CMU provides my net connection; they don't necessarily agree with me.]