Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!munnari!ditmela!george
From: george@ditmela.oz (George michaelson)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers
Subject: Re: "X-" blithering
Message-ID: <1988@ditmela.oz>
Date: 2 Aug 88 23:57:09 GMT
References: <17601@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>
Organization: CSIRO Division of Information Technology, Australia
Lines: 26

From article <17601@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>, by jbn@glacier.STANFORD.EDU (John B. Nagle):
> 
>      The X mail system (is this part of X windows?) seems to indulge in
> heavy self-promotion.  Is all the following, taken from incoming mail,
> necessary?  It has little value to the recipient.
> 
> 	X-To:         DYNSYS-L%UNCVM1.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu

Gentle flame. Read the standard, X-<field> is the RFC822 extension
mechanism. it allows mail systems to add fields into the message header
for end-to-end (well, I suppose other people/things could use it) purposes.

-value is in the eye of the beholder. your mail system (and mine) may balk
a little on these fields, but it should not barf. It is in the standard to 
ignore them. 

Elm clearly offers some enhanced functionality.

	apologies to mail-gurus if this is wrong/to late.

	-george
-- 
        George Michaelson, CSIRO Division of Information Technology

ACSnet: G.Michaelson@ditmela.oz                      Phone: +61 3 347 8644
Postal: CSIRO, 55 Barry St, Carlton, Vic 3053 Oz       Fax: +61 3 347 8987