Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!syntron!jtsv16!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!bpa!cbmvax!vu-vlsi!dsinc!lgnp1!vskahan
From: vskahan@lgnp1.MASA.COM (Vince Skahan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: uucp and the Apollo network
Summary: I get the idea but don't necessarily agree
Message-ID: <22@lgnp1.MASA.COM>
Date: 25 Oct 88 04:00:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: lgnp1.22
References: <8810241709.AA01180@richter.mit.edu>
Organization: Lagniappe Systems, Norristown, PA
Lines: 36

In article <8810241709.AA01180@richter.mit.edu>, krowitz@RICHTER.MIT.EDU (David Krowitz) writes:
> BAD IDEA! the `node_data/thishost file, along with the
> `node_data/networks file, is used by TCP/IP to determine
> the host's name and network connections. You're messing with
> X-windows, rsh, rlogin, fpt, telnet, etc. in addition to playing
> with UUCP. You can potentially break a lot of software. It's much
> better to change your mailer's configuration file to hard-code
> the gateway name. You only have to change 1 one in the network
> (rather than 1 file on each node on the network), and you don't
> break any other software.

I've set all /sys/node_data/thishost files to be the same on a ring with
absolutely no effects that broke software.  The thishost file provides

the hostname for mail and rwho (among other things)...It has absolutely
no effect on the operation of the ftpd or telnetd (I can't speak for X
or NFS).

My point (which I guess I didn't make well enough) was that you don't
necessarily have to go through the pain of messing with the brain-dead
default APollo sendmail.cf to hard-code the USENET gateway name.  You
can change thishost (I agree, it's ugly but it does work), you can
compile smail to use the gateway name (safe and effective when used as
directed).

I agree that the best solution is to mess with sendmail.cf if you can
devote the time to it.

One question...the example sendmail.cf you quoted sure looks
word-for-word like the one I took from an Ultrix Vax (I run an Ultrix
.cf file to be able to parse user%host@next_host without choking)...are
you running an ultrix .cf file or did you get a new (post 9.5)
sendmail.cf from apollo ???
-- 
				Vince Skahan
	UUCP: lgnp1!vskahan			Internet: skahan@boeing.com