sob@soma.bcm.tmc.edu (Stan Barber) (11/20/86)
uumail sources have been submitted to mod.sources for distribution.
My thanks to all the nice folks who beta tested the software for me.
I would thank you inidividually, but the computer on which that mailing
list is maintained is currently down. I will send out individual thanks
when is is back....Here is the announcement.
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I am happy to announe the release of uumail version 4.0, the pathalias
mailer. uumail is not a user-agent. It is intended to be used as a
"back-end" to take the mail from user-agents and correctly route it
to its destination. Other examples of similiar programs include
sendmail, delivermail, and MMDF.
Features of uumail include:
o RFC 976 Compliant (UUCP Mail Interface Format Standard)
o uses pathalias(1) generated database in either text or dbm(3) format
o MH-style aliasing support
o sendmail-like .forward processing
o can pipe mail output into other programs (e.g. uurec)
o can be used under SYSTEM III, SYSTEM V or BSD
o rn-like Configuration program for easy installation
o returns undeliverable mail
o usable as a mailer with sendmail(8)
o does not require unix sources to install
o dynamically determines uucp neighbors without modification
of the pathalias database
o functions as uupath(1) to return paths from pathalias(1) database
o logging of traffic supported
o supports 4.3 BSD UUCP graded transactions
No other programs are required to use uumail. Pathalias(1) is useful for
generating a full database, but a full database is not required to make
uumail useful.
Bug reports are welcome.
Stan Barber <sob@soma.bcm.tmc.edu>
({cuae2,seismo,rice}!soma!sob)
Cellular Neurophysiology Laboratory
Department of Neurology
Baylor Collge of Medicine
Houston, Texas 77030perry@vu-vlsi.UUCP (11/22/86)
In article <2548@soma.bcm.tmc.edu>, sob@soma.bcm.tmc.edu (Stan Barber) writes: > uumail sources have been submitted to mod.sources for distribution. > My thanks to all the nice folks who beta tested the software for me. We had been using an old version of the 'address' and 'uupath' utilities that came with uumail; I was reluctant to actually replace rmail with uumail at the time since I didn't trust it or the maps too much. When the newer version of uumail came out several months ago I was quite excited, but it did nothing but core dump on our Pyramid, and made lint puke too, so I didn't investigate further. I didn't know it was a beta version. The versions of uumail that I have seen so far depend on a 'domains' file to figure out how to get to .domains. Recently the mod.maps files are including d.* files explicitly indicating domain connections and these are handled by pathalias ok. 'smail' by the UUCP Project folks uses only the pathalias database to figure out everything. I think this is an advantage, assuming the d.* files are kept up-to-date. Instead of having a manually-updated domains file doesn't it make more sense to use the domain connections as posted with the uucp maps and as used by smail? One thing that smail is lacking is the capability for doing what the uumail 'address' and 'uupath' routines do, i.e. show the paths that would be used. A minor change to smail involving addition of an extra -option accomplishes that easily. ...Rick ..{cbmvax,pyrnj,psuvax1,bpa}!vu-vlsi!perry perry@vuvaxcom.bitnet
sob@soma.UUCP (11/23/86)
uumail release 4.0 uses almost the same subroutines that smail does to obtain a path to a domain. It also does one thing that smail does not do; it will send mail it cannot resolve to a "more intelligent" host for processing of paths it cannot resolve. This means you can have one host on your network that has the maps and forward all mail to that host for processing. This is similiar in principle to the "mailpaths" processing in news Version 2.11. uumail release 4.0 does not use the "domains" file anymore. uupath and address are included with the release and I believe it will run on the Pryamid now. If you try it and it fails, please send me some mail and I will get access to a Pryamid and fix it. Please direct future bug reports to me.
jimb@dopey.AMD.COM (Jim Budler) (11/24/86)
In article <2553@soma.bcm.tmc.edu> sob@soma.UUCP (Stan Barber) writes: >uumail release 4.0 does not use the "domains" file anymore. uupath and address >are included with the release and I believe it will run on the Pryamid now. >If you try it and it fails, please send me some mail and I will get access >to a Pryamid and fix it. I'm glad to hear this. This was one of the major things which persuaded me to drop uumail and go to smail as a replacement. It's a pity that there is so much duplication of effort on this task. The beta version of smail (not distributed yet, don't ask) also understands smart routing hosts, also. The two programs are tracking very closely now. I guess competition is healthy. -- +==== Jim Budler ==== Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ==== (408) 749-5806 ====+ | Compuserve: 72415,1200 | | Soon: jimb@amdcad.AMD.COM | +======================== jimb@amdcad.UUCP ==== .signature = 4 lines ======+
usenet@soma.bcm.tmc.edu (USENET maintenance) (12/01/86)
In article <212@dopey.AMD.COM> jimb@dopey.UUCP (Jim Budler) writes: > >It's a pity that >there is so much duplication of effort on this task. The beta version of >smail (not distributed yet, don't ask) also understands smart routing >hosts, also. The two programs are tracking very closely now. > This is true for the moment. When I was working on the next release of uumail, I made a decision to become RFC 976 compliant before adding any other features. This accounts for the similiarity in the programs. I doubt the next release of uumail will look as similiar. >I guess competition is healthy. I don't consider it competition. If I did, I would not have used the smail code in uumail [Mark Horton and the UUCP Project were kind enough to allow me to use it]. Since both smail and uumail do the same type of processing to be RFC 976 compliant, I will be tracking them in this so I don't reinvent the wheel and arguements about approaches to solving this problem will result in uniform changes (unless someone else writes and distributes yet another mailer). However, uumail will not be tracking smail in other areas. I hope that uumail will become more of a full featured mailer handling header processing and such. Your suggestions are always welcome. Stan uucp:{shell,rice,cuae2}!soma!sob Opinions expressed here Olan domain:sob@rice.edu or sob@soma.bcm.tmc.edu are ONLY mine & Barber CIS:71565,623 BBS:(713)790-9004 noone else's.
scott@cdp.UUCP (12/24/86)
Could someone who's had experience with both smail and uumail comment on their relative merits? -scott hplabs!cdp!scott