Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc
Path: utzoo!utgpu!cunews!micor!latour!mcr
From: mcr@Latour.Sandelman.OCUnix.On.Ca (Michael Richardson)
Subject: Re: Which headers may Sendmail re-write?
Message-ID: <1990Dec14.064837.8996@Latour.Sandelman.OCUnix.On.Ca>
Reply-To: fts1!latour!mcr@alfred.ccs.carleton.ca
Organization: Sandelman Software Works, Debugging Department, Ottawa, ON
References: <2766B2E7.276@tct.uucp> <KARL.90Dec13123956@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 90 06:48:37 GMT

In article <KARL.90Dec13123956@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu> karl_kleinpaste@cis.ohio-state.edu writes:
>Let's assume that "tct" is a UUCP neighbor of "osu-cis."  Let's assume
>that chip@tct.uucp sends mail aimed at, say, osu-cis!ucbvax!somebody.
>Headers read:
>	From: chip@tct.uucp
>	To: osu-cis!ucbvax!somebody
>Envelope looks like "From tct!chip" and "rmail ucbvax!somebody" by the
>time it reaches my system.  So far, so good, I hope.
>
>My mail installation wants to do things to reach ucbvax via the
>Internet rather than UUCP.  That is, seeing "ucbvax!somebody" as an
>intended destination, I nonetheless want to speak SMTP to
>ucbvax.berkeley.edu.  This is perfectly legit, as the choice of
>outbound transport is mine to make.
>
>I _can't_ send
>	MAIL FROM:<tct!chip>
>in SMTP because it lacks "@right.hand.side" as required by the RFCs.
>MAISER on a DEC-20 will choke (has choked) on it.  Nor can I send
>	MAIL FROM:<chip@tct.uucp>
>as the envelope origin.  "uucp" is not a valid top-level domain.  See
>RFC 1123 section 5.2.2 page 49.

  I can't argue here, I agree, completely.

>I _can't_ send
>	From: chip@tct.uucp
>in the headers.  "uucp" is not a valid top-level domain.  Similarly,
>	From: tct!chip
>is insufficient due to no "@right.hand.side."  See RFC 822 in several
>places, such as the syntax grammar beginning section 4.1 page 17: the
>"mailbox" spec must be properly dealt with.

  But, I/chip/tct-admin PUT chip@tct.UUCP in the From:
  If I can't get a reply, THAT IS MY PROBLEM!!!!!

  If I want a reply bad enough I can do two things:
  a) Put the correct Reply-To: in. (and hope attention gets paid to it)
  b) Register my site under the appropriate valid top-level domain
and get an MX record. 
  
  Since I assume you'd prefer you have everyone do (b), why encourage
the tct.UUCP people from being lazy, and in the meantime, possibly
mangle the From: beyond recognition. 
  Whenever someone asks me how to reply to a munged address, I tell
them they can't. I have no problem telling people on an Internet site
that they can't send to *.UUCP. And then explaining all the kludges
a couple of minutes later. 

>I hack headers as well as envelope because headers containing bogon,
>unreal, and unregistered domains are invalid on the Internet.  Your

  My headers, above, are invalid. I await the rubber stamp of CA*net...

-- 
   :!mcr!:            |    The postmaster never          |  So much mail,
   Michael Richardson |            resolves twice.       |  so few cycles.
 mcr@julie.UUCP/michael@fts1.UUCP/mcr@doe.carleton.ca -- Domain address
    - Pay attention only to _MY_ opinions. -         registration in progress.
