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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!chris
From: chris@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.mail
Subject: Re: *uucp* addresses
Message-ID: <3753@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 12-Nov-83 18:11:13 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.3753
Posted: Sat Nov 12 18:11:13 1983
Date-Received: Mon, 14-Nov-83 04:58:00 EST
References: <188@menlo70.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 27


here is a problem that you may run into if you start optimizing
UUCP addresses.  Here's a real-life example:

Mail from here to "seismo!inhp4!sun!gnu" will go to John Gilmore
(assuming he's still at Sun).  Now, we talk directly to "sun", but
mail to "sun!gnu" will say that "gnu" isn't a user of (our) Sun*!
Admittedly "sun" is a poor name for our Sun, but we haven't changed
it (yet), and even after we do change it, I'll bet there are at
least a few sites out there with the same name (some not necessarily
on Usenet) (and by "same name" I don't mean necessarily "sun", I
mean "xyzzy" and "xyzzy" or "alpo" and "alpo" or some such).

In other words, unless you *know* that "foo!bar" is the same as
"foo!baz!bar", you *cannot* send mail to "foo!bar" -- the two "bar"s
may be entirely different machines.

A central database of UUCP paths will help, since all machines
registered therein will be required to have unique names; those
paths can then be optimized.  For now, I suppose that optimizing
all known Usenet machines will have to do.  (And we'd better change
the name of our Sun!)

* Sun is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Inc.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci
UUCP:	{seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet:	chris@umcp-cs		ARPA:	chris.umcp-cs@CSNet-Relay