Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!ucbvax!SIMTEL20.ARPA!MRC From: MRC@SIMTEL20.ARPA.UUCP Newsgroups: mod.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: {8605.0428} oh mr. postman ... Message-ID: <12210165659.6.MRC@SIMTEL20.ARPA> Date: Tue, 27-May-86 22:03:12 EDT Article-I.D.: SIMTEL20.12210165659.6.MRC Posted: Tue May 27 22:03:12 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 28-May-86 19:38:29 EDT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 23 Approved: tcp-ip@sri-nic.arpa Joel - ISI's SMTP receiver is, as far as I can tell, unique to ISI. The standard TOPS-20 SMTP receiver is my MAISER, which does not validate the host names in MAIL FROM:<...> SMTP commands. The reason it does not validate the host names in the MAIL FROM is that if it did my friends at the NIC would not be able to receive HOSTMASTER mail of the form "Hi, this is FOOBAR, we just got on the net, please add us to the host table"!!!! Since the MAIL FROM host names are only used by the mailer to return failed mail, this isn't a big deal. Failed messages that can't be returned end up in the dead letter mailbox (typically POSTMASTER but not necessarily), where a human can decide whether to keep or toss it out. I ask you not to confuse the two SMTP servers, and I urge the ISI system management to give serious consideration towards adopting the standard SMTP server or at least to implement its willingness to accept mail in spite of possibly bogus return paths. -- Mark -- -------