[net.news.b] Bogus software

gnu@l5.uucp (John Gilmore) (12/15/85)

In article <270@ius2.cs.cmu.edu>, ralphw@ius2.cs.cmu.edu (Ralph Hyre) writes:
> In article <36000078@uiucdcs> mcewan@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU writes:
> >
> >>> 	 Obviously, since the name was on the article under the From 
> >>> 	 heading...
> ...
> >>	... I couldn't find your name anywhere
> >>	in the heading or in the article...
> >
> >Also, please be aware that notesfiles users can NOT see the "From" line,
> >unless <begin mini-flame> some turkey with a religious objection to using
> >an editor posts all 17 zillion garbage lines that their news interface
> >shows them in a response <endflame>.
> Seems like the 'turkey' here is either the author of notesfiles (for not
> updating the software) or those who keep using it when better and more robust
> tools are available.

The problem is that the netnews software was unprepared for a change 
made by the netnews administrators (hmm, this seems to be a recurring
problem).  The change was that the Path: line in some moderated groups no
longer reflects who the message came from; instead, it gets a bogus address
reminiscent of the newsgroup name.  The From: line still exists and would
be fine except that vnews (and apparently notes) do not use it.  Vnews
would show it if you compiled it with the option that assumes you have
a uucp router running -- but we don't, and a lot of other people don't
too, from the mail paths I receive things by.  The reason the administrators
don't use the Path: line for what God :-) intended is obscure; since
these articles were actually *mailed* to the moderator, the news article
has not propagated thru all the sites in the return address.  But if
you put these sites in the Path:, netnews will not forward the message
to those sites.  Catch-22.  It would be nice if somebody fixed this
cleanly sometime and released some netnews software but I haven't heard
anybody responsible who thinks it's a bug.  (They tell me to run a uucp
router -- thanks guys.)

hokey@plus5.UUCP (Hokey) (12/18/85)

I sent out a workaround fix for the Path: problem to the moderators mailing
list a couple of times.  Near as I can tell, however, the only mod group
that uses the fix is mod.std.mumps.

Just to avoid doing it again, here is the procedure I use:

		Edit the headers, leaving only
			Date:
			From:	(canonicalize the address)
			Subject:

		copy From: to Reply-To:
		Put From: into % format

		ADD:
			Volume-Issue: 2.n

The crucial point is the % format of the From: line.  Smart news readers
will use the Reply-To: field, which is in canonical form.  The Path: is
created from the From: line.  By keeping this field in % format, the Path:
is not messed up anywhere, and dumb mailers will reply along the Path: which
will eventually send the mail to mysite!sender%sendersite, which will be
properly routed from mysite.
-- 
Hokey           ..ihnp4!plus5!hokey
		  314-725-9492