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From: pdb@sei.cmu.edu (Patrick Barron)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc,comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: Why @? (was NO NO NO NO NO, sort of)
Message-ID: <1790@aw.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: Fri, 3-Jul-87 03:18:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: aw.1790
Posted: Fri Jul  3 03:18:08 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 5-Jul-87 20:44:34 EDT
References: <16238@amdcad.AMD.COM> <3546@cbosgd.ATT.COM> <8706121716.AA13932@ephemeral.ai.toronto.edu> <969@mtung.ATT.COM>
Sender: netnews@sei.cmu.edu
Reply-To: pdb@sei.cmu.edu (Pat Barron)
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, SEI, Pgh, Pa
Lines: 49
Xref: mnetor comp.mail.misc:399 comp.mail.uucp:675

In article <969@mtung.ATT.COM> pgf@mtung.UUCP (gws-Paul Fox) writes:
->	The reason I mention this is that it extends naturally to the 
->	current situation where neither mybox nor theirbox speaks 
->	domains.  If we assume we both talk to machines that do know 
->	domains (mine is mtune), then we get: 
->
->		mail mtune!EDU!UNIV!theirneighbor!theirbox!friend
->
->	and of course:
->
->		mail theirneighbor!COM!ATT!mtune!mybox!pgfox
->
->	In reality, of course, mtune, which understands domains, will 
->	eat both the EDU and the UNIV "meta-machines", treating them 
->	however it does now in "theirneighbor@UNIV.EDU".

There already is such a thing, though it doesn't work quite the way you
describe.  Check out RFC 976, "UUCP Mail Interchange Format Standard".
According to that, your first example would become:

               mail mtune!UNIV.EDU!theirneighbor!theirbox!friend

Since mtune understands domains, it should be able to deal with the UNIV.EDU
part, and your mail gets sent happily along its way.  It's almost, but not
quite, what your idea says.  The big problem with your system is:  what if
EDU or UNIV, or whatever other meta-machines you might recognize, are
coincidentally the *real* names of *real* machines?

->	I thinks this also eliminates precedence problems (of the NO 
->	NO NO NO NO variety.  (As well as the problem that my 
->	addresses are always being swallowed by my line kill 
->	character.  :-) 

Try "stty dec".  Oh, wait, you work for AT&T, right?  Ooops, never mind. :-)

->
->	Okay-- I've proved my ignorance-- rip me apart.
->
->	By the way, I *think* I can be reached at "p.g.fox@mtune!ATT.COM",
->	but I *know* I can be reached at "ihnp4!mtung!pgf".

From a domain-based machine, it would more likely be "mtune!p.g.fox@ATT.COM".

->-- 
->			Paul Fox, AT&T Information Systems, Middletown NJ.
->			  [ihnp4|vax135]!mtung!pgf (201)957-2698


--Pat.