Xref: utzoo news.admin:15217 news.software.b:8249 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ncar!gatech!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ysub!doug From: DOUG@ysub.ysu.edu (Doug Sewell) Newsgroups: news.admin,news.software.b Subject: Re: Auto-repliers Message-ID: <91164.154224DOUG@ysub.ysu.edu> Date: 13 Jun 91 19:42:24 GMT References: <1991Jun13.141538.21196@oar.net> <1991Jun13.182844.16363@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> Organization: Youngstown State University VM system (YSUB) Lines: 28 In article <1991Jun13.182844.16363@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>, david@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (David Robinson) says: > >Great idea. Those of us that are well connected get inflicted with the >rash of bounce messages from sites that auto-reply to Path: headers >and create incorrect To: lines. True, a lack of response is an indicator >of failing software, but that does not guarentee that the failing >software is the one you are trying to test. > The 'Path:' statement can't be trusted for a path back to the source for e-mail. Sometimes it's just plain wrong, sometimes it's trying to go back through one-way links, and sometimes it's really round- about. We have an auto-replier program. It uses the Reply-To: header if it's there, otherwise the From: header. Path: is ignored. Our mailer bounces responses without a domain name or non-bitnet unqual- ified domain name. Our SMTP-server bounces mail with bad FQDNs. As a general rule, the only ones that bounce after leaving our site are user@node.uucp, user@node.bitnet, and mx'd sites, and that's usually because of a nonexistent userid. Doug -- Doug Sewell, Tech Support, Computer Center, doug@ysub.bitnet Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH 44555 doug@ysub.ysu.edu Only dead fish go with the flow.