Newsgroups: news.software.b
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Solution to news dup site names
Message-ID: <1988Aug21.045032.15240@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1445@datapg.MN.ORG> <20246@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <527@vector.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 21 Aug 88 04:50:32 GMT

In article <527@vector.UUCP> chip@vector.UUCP (Chip Rosenthal) writes:
>>Why not just have fully-qualified domain names in the Path: header?
>
>This breaks crufty, old software which uses "Path" rather than "From" for
>mailed responses.

Actually, it breaks it only if that site's neighbors do not recognize the
fully-qualified form.  Unfortunately, there are still a lot of sites that
don't.

>However, I'm not sure whether this is an argument *for*
>or *against* such a change.

Against.  There are many people who, for one reason or another, not only
haven't upgraded their software but *CAN'T*.  Cutting them off the net as
punishment for their unfortunate circumstances is unacceptable.

(No, the availability of public-domain software doesn't solve the problem.
Some sites are politically required to run the system "straight out of the
box"; others could make changes but don't have anyone competent to do it.)
-- 
Intel CPUs are not defective,  |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
they just act that way.        | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu