Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sdcsvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest!sdcsvax!jww From: jww@sdcsvax.UUCP (Joel West) Newsgroups: net.mail Subject: Proposal for un-munging addresses Message-ID: <1037@sdcsvax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 14-Aug-85 11:49:36 EDT Article-I.D.: sdcsvax.1037 Posted: Wed Aug 14 11:49:36 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 00:49:02 EDT References: <3018@nsc.UUCP> <47300004@hpfclo.UUCP> Organization: CACI, Inc - Federal, La Jolla Lines: 57 > > /***** hpfclo:net.mail / nsc!chuqui / 7:03 pm Jul 22, 1985*/ > > I'm starting to see problems that look like smart mailers messing up > > addresses. I **think** it may have something to do with some of the > > assumptions in the gatech sendmail configuration files -- I'm hacking on > > them now and some things don't look quite right. > ... > > From: ihnp4!purdue!jsq%im4u.UTEXAS@ut-sally.ARPA (John Quarterman) (becomes)> > To: ut-sally.ARPA!ihnp4!purdue!jsq%im4u.UTEXAS (John Quarterman) > > Mailers should leave the sender's address the hell alone. ... > When I reply to this mail (consider me a novice), my user-agent > constructs the reply address, which (SHOCK!) just happens to > be the exact same thing as is in his mail (ie. NO MUNGING EVER!). > -- jad -- > John A. Dilley, FSD > Fort Collins, CO > > ARPA: terrapin@Purdue.EDU > UUCP: {ihnp4}! hpfcla!jad Here, here! Once an address is munged, no reasonable amount of artificial intelligence is going to be able to unambiguously unmung it all of the time. Only a few humans who know the various local paths and gateways can scan the "To:" above and figure that "jsq%im4u.TEXAS@ut-sally.ARPA" is the recipient. I'd like to propose a least-change approach that will work with both the "cute-as-a-shithouse" mailers and the dumbest of dumb V6 mailers. Let's forget (for the time being) about ever getting a reasonable "From xxx!yyy" or "From: yyy@xxx" line. Write those off as being the province of the overly smart or dumb. Instead, the secret fraternity of pathless mailers can hide the unmunged address in a different field -- one that the other mailers don't know how to mung. "Reply-To:" is an obvious candidate, but it might be safer to pick something totally new and unused: From-Address: Sender: etc. etc. Then, these fraternity members can look for this secret header (the heathen will go on their merry way using From or From:). Being unmunged (nobody knows how to mung it) the local mailer can use this, where available, to feed to a smart router. Adding the new header is a snap--any sendmail site can do it in 5 minutes. And while we're all waiting for new versions of /ucb/mail to support this, we can manually type in this unmunged address (typically 10-20 chars) as needed to fool the overly cute mailers. Any takers? Joel West CACI, Inc. - Federal (c/o UC San Diego) {ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww jww@SDCSVAX.ARPA