Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!sri-spam!ames!ptsfa!vixie!paul From: paul@vixie.UUCP (Paul Vixie Esq) Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc,comp.mail.uucp Subject: Re: whether to prefix myhost! onto the From: or not.. Message-ID: <606@vixie.UUCP> Date: Sat, 25-Apr-87 13:29:03 EDT Article-I.D.: vixie.606 Posted: Sat Apr 25 13:29:03 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 26-Apr-87 22:09:09 EDT References: <604@vixie.UUCP> <4323@auspyr.UUCP> Reply-To: paul@vixie.UUCP (Paul Vixie Esq) Organization: Vixie Enterprises, San Francisco Lines: 63 Xref: mnetor comp.mail.misc:224 comp.mail.uucp:501 In article <4323@auspyr.UUCP> joe@auspyr.UUCP (Joe Angelo) writes: >> If SysV mailx doesn't have the ability to reply using From_ instead of From:, >> it loses... > >Mailx doesn't lose anything as it sits back and smiles -- you are forgetting >that SOMEONE is losing! ... Sorry, I was using an "in" term. In the hacker's dictionary, a program (or other entity) "loses" or "is losing" if it has *really obvious* deficiencies. > Did you ever use Mailx and try to reply to >From: user@domain with a To: and Cc: line??! I've seen core dumps and >infinite loops leading to stray pointers. It's really a serious problem. I agree. If a company ships a product that dumps core under ANY circumstances, rather than always catching itself and printing error messages, that company should fix that product and ship out bug fixes. Commercialism in action. >[...] Mailx has alot of features UCB/Mail doesn't. Like dumping core on invalid addresses :-) ? Seriously, though, I agree with you. Sun uses Mailx instead of Mail in their product. ATT (or whomever) did a nice job on Mailx... >Actually, I haven't noticed ANY problems by modifying the header line >as host!user. But then again, ain't bliss just great? ... If you want to do that in the sender-rewrite rule for your local mailer, go ahead. If you forward or reply in the user agent, it will leave your system with a h!u or u@h header -- either way, only two components, and accurate (if the other site knows how to parse h!u in the From: line, as seems probable). But don't do this to mail "passing through" your site -- it's rude. > # From: {host!user || user@domain} [ ] Tech note: this won't always work. The From: line has several alternative formats. If there are <>'s in the line, they surround the address and the rest of the line are comments: From: Paul A. Vixie or From: Paul A. Vixie If there are no <>'s, then stuff in ()'s is comment and what remains is address: From: paul@vixie.UUCP (Paul A. Vixie) Note that there is no guarantee that the comment part will be there, and if it is it can be anywhere in the line -- i.e., before OR after the real address. The continuing moral (unrelated to above, just want to keep this on track): Don't modify the From: line! If you want the path the message took to get to you, use the From_ line! -- Paul A. Vixie {ptsfa, crash, winfree}!vixie!paul 329 Noe Street dual!ptsfa!vixie!paul@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU San Francisco CA 94116 paul@vixie.UUCP (415) 864-7013