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From: guy@sun.uucp (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards,net.dcom
Subject: Re: /usr/lib/aliases name format
Message-ID: <3140@sun.uucp>
Date: Sun, 12-Jan-86 14:26:38 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.3140
Posted: Sun Jan 12 14:26:38 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 14-Jan-86 04:23:25 EST
References: <902@rlgvax.UUCP>
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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Xref: watmath net.unix-wizards:16370 net.dcom:1591

> Our SV man page for aliases(4) says that the format is
> name: name_1, name_2, name_3, ...
> 
> Most of the entries in our file are absolute uucp path names
> such as nextmch!nextnextmch!lastmch!person.
> 
> However, is it okay to put in names such as
> person@lastmch.uucp or person@lastmch.UUCP?
	
1) To forestall future comments, there is no S5 man page for "aliases(4)".
The system in question is a 4.2BSD/S5 hybrid; the "aliases" file is used by
"sendmail" which comes with 4.2BSD but not with S5 (although it can be made
to work under S5).

2) The way "sendmail" handles aliases is that when it detects that it's
about to run a mailer which does local delivery (which, in this case, it
does by noting that the mailer is the one defined with the name "local", not
by looking at the "local mailer" flag), it checks to see whether the address
being delivered to is in the aliases file.  If so, it gets what that alias
expands to and pretends, in effect, that it was just given mail to deliver
to that expansion.  As such, it is processed just as if it had been given
those addresses in the first place.  As such, putting in names like that
should work as well as sending to such a name in the first place.

	Guy Harris