Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!mp.cs.niu.edu!rickert From: rickert@mp.cs.niu.edu (Neil Rickert) Newsgroups: news.software.b Subject: Re: LET'S NAME THE GUILTY POSTING SOFTWARE!!! Message-ID: <1991Jun20.145913.28280@mp.cs.niu.edu> Date: 20 Jun 91 14:59:13 GMT References: <6098@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> <1991Jun20.114358.4871@mp.cs.niu.edu> <6102@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> Organization: Northern Illinois University Lines: 41 In article <6102@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> sob@tmc.edu (Stan Barber) writes: >Let's see if we can agree on the REAL problem. >The REAL problem as I see it is that the inews in the news transport does >not to an adequate job of checking headers and returning bad articles to the >user. The "user" is identified in three places. The "Path:" header, the "From:" header and the "Sender:" header. With mini-inews, two of these are WRONG. Specifically, the "Path:" header generated by mini-inews does not have the host name where the article was created, so the "Path:" finishes up incorrectly giving an address on the nntp server instead of the client. Because of the way mini-inews submits the article through inews, the "From:" header does not correspond to the actual submitter which is typically news@news.server. Therefore a properly designed inews is obliged to put the authentic sender address in the "Sender:" header. The RFCs are pretty clear that in the presence of both a "From:" and a "Sender:", error reports are to go to "Sender:". The implication is clear to all except those who refuse to admit it. The way mini-inews works is WRONG. The article has to be injected on the server at some point after handling the "Sender:" header, so that an invalid "Sender:" is not generated. However it has to be injected before the "Newsgroups:" header processing so that moderated groups will be managed correctly. Just pumping the article into inews on the server is the wrong approach. It needs a special interface. Either there needs to be an option on the server inews to skip the addition of the "Sender:", or there needs to be a special front end. In the meantime mini-inews must correctly handle the "Path:" and "Sender:" headers itself. Since mini-inews isolates the submitter from the real submitting software, good design would dictate that it should also validate the syntax of the other headers. It probably need not create a "Message-ID:" or "Date:". They are better done on the server, where there is a stronger incentive to keep the clock approximately accurate. However if these headers already exist, they should be checked for correct syntax so that the news submitter can be informed. -- =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= Neil W. Rickert, Computer Science Northern Illinois Univ. DeKalb, IL 60115 +1-815-753-6940