Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site Glacier.ARPA
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!Glacier!reid
From: reid@Glacier.ARPA (Brian Reid)
Newsgroups: net.mail
Subject: No valid "From" line? Foo. I don't get a "To" line.
Message-ID: <7548@Glacier.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 17-May-85 01:05:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: Glacier.7548
Posted: Fri May 17 01:05:32 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 19-May-85 06:18:17 EDT
References: <17078@mgweed.UUCP> <499@down.FUN>
Distribution: net
Organization: Stanford University, Computer Systems Lab
Lines: 25

> Locally, I validate the first line of each incoming message in
> rmail.  If it's not right, I reject it immediately, with stderr
> "No From line !?!"; uuxqt then takes care of the rest.  This has
> always produced immediate results.  Emacs-based mailers seem to
> be the most frequent offenders, since they tend to shun unix
> mail altogether, and call uux directly.
> 
> 	Peter

Most of the mail that I get from Unix sites that are not BSD-based is
missing a "To" line. This turns out to be quite bogus for me, because my
(very quirky) mail-reading program sorts the mail I receive into categories
based on simple pattern matches, and any mail not addressed directly to me 
(i.e. mail that does not have my name in the To or CC field) is never put
into the first category. All of the mail that I get from people inside BTL
(typically in response to some outrageous thing I posted in netnews) ends up
in this bit-purgatory because of this.

I'm not asking anybody to fix this; anything that reduces the volume of mail
that I get is fine with me. I'm just curious as to why it happens.

Brian
-- 
	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA