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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!hou3c!MRC@SU-SCORE.ARPA
From: MRC@SU-SCORE.ARPA (Mark Crispin)
Newsgroups: net.mail.headers
Subject: "blaming Unix SendMail"
Message-ID: <474@hou3c.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 17-Apr-84 16:30:29 EST
Article-I.D.: hou3c.474
Posted: Tue Apr 17 16:30:29 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Apr-84 07:28:32 EST
Sender: ka@hou3c.UUCP (Kenneth Almquist)
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To: Header-People@MIT-MC.ARPA
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Phone: (415) 497-1407 (Stanford); (415) 968-1052 (residence)


     I will probably regret this, but I couldn't help myself.  It seems
that any program which requires configuration files of such complexity
that just about every site gets them wrong is sadly lacking in the most
basic principles of good software design.  Unix SendMail seems to be
such a program.

     Tell me, why does SendMail need such complex configuration files?
Wouldn't a preferable scheme be to look at ones environment at runtime
and do the right thing by default?

     I guess I'm wedged.  After all, I program on dinosaurs using the
obsolete thinking that software should do the right thing in its default
unmodified state without requiring such elaborate configuration procedures.
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