tcp-ip@ucbvax.ARPA (07/26/85)
From: Rich Wales <wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA> I originally posted the following to NAMEDROPPERS@SRI-NIC.ARPA -- but it was suggested to me that many of the hosts in question might not have any NAMEDROPPERS readers, and that I would be more likely to get to more of the right people by posting to TCP-IP. So -- with apologies to those of you who already saw this message on NAMEDROPPERS, and/or those of you who have nothing to do with mail . . . Quite a few sites are STILL sending out mail with old, non-domain-style host names in the return addresses. (E.g.: "fred@PODUNK-CS" -- instead of "fred@PODUNK-CS.ARPA", or maybe "fred@CS.PODUNK.EDU".) Since these non-domain-style names are NEVER going to be included in the new distributed domain data base, any host which has completed the switch to the domain mechanism will no longer be able to reply to mail whose return address bears one of these old names. ************************************************************************ * QUICK CHECK: If return addresses on your system don't have AT * * LEAST ONE period after the at-sign, you have work to do. * ************************************************************************ The following offenders were represented in the last week's worth of mail received here at UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA: AERO2 CIT-VAX ISI-VAXA NRL-CSS TOVE AIDS-UNIX CVL LBL-CSAM NYU-CMCL2 UCI-ICSA ALMSA-2 GE-CRD MARYLAND RAND-UNIX UCI-ICSD BERKELEY GREGORIO MIT-COMET SRI-SPAM UTAH-CS CIT-750 ISI-HOBGOBLIN NCSC SRI-UNIX One or two of the above-listed sites account for a LOT of mail. I suspect I will -- quite reluctantly -- end up hacking our outgoing mailer daemon to add ".ARPA" to non-domain-style host names before trying to look them up in the domain data base. On principle, I shouldn't have to do this kind of thing . . . and I don't really want to, because it's a Disgustingly Evil Hack . . . and it won't even work all the time (e.g., GREGORIO.ARPA is bogus) . . . . . . but as long as so many hosts continue to generate return addresses that have no hope at all of working under the domain scheme, I see no alternative if I am to continue to support a large (and frequently naive) community of users who are totally unprepared to figure out what to do if someone else's return address doesn't work. One person suggested that I should modify my mail system to reject all incoming mail with a non-domain-style host name in the return address. While this might give the users of the offending hosts a little bit more incentive to lean on their local mail gurus, it would also give the disgruntled would-be recipients of such mail here at UCLA a little bit more incentive to look for a silver platter to serve my head on! I should mention, by the way, that I have been in touch with people at Berkeley (one of the offending hosts listed above); they are aware of the problem and are working on fixing their system. Hopefully, then, they will not show up on my "list" the next time I compile one. -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA ARPA: wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA -or- wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU UUCP: ...!(ihnp4,ucbvax)!ucla-cs!wales