[comp.mail.elm] Helpful hint when using ELM on non-internet systems

rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo) (05/02/89)

A user writes:
> My mailer doesn't understand Internet addressing, but since most of my
> mail goes to other domains, I would like to add my domain to my return
> address.  Elm 2.2 doesn't permit this, the USE_DOMAIN test is inside the
> INTERNET loop.  Is there a reason for this?
> 
> More specifically, all my outgoing mail goes to dalcs!user@node.domain,
> but I would like my return address to be bill@biomel.uucp, since when,
> for example, bitnet users get mail from biomel!bill they may have
> trouble replying.

I had the same problem on one of our internal systems that does not "do"
INTERNET.  What I did was use the Reply-To header to specify my internet
address.  And instead of entering it each time on the headers editing
screen, I simply put it in my .elm/elmheaders file.  Any respectable
mailer will give priority to a Reply-To: header over a From: header.
(Well, at least ELM does!) This means other people that reply to your
messages will reply using the internet address given in the Reply-To:
and not the faulty one in the From: header.  Anyone using a dumb mailer
will also be able to reply, because a dumb mailer will ignore the
headers and simply work out the return path from the "From " (no colon)
lines (which Elm does when you configure it to not trust From: and
Reply-To: headers).

-- 
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell UNIX/C Reusable Code Library
 Office:    (415) 823-2417  Room 4E750A, San Ramon Valley Administrative Center
 Residence: (415) 827-4301  R Bar JB, Concord, California

-- 
Rob Bernardo, Pacific Bell UNIX/C Reusable Code Library
Email:     ...![backbone]!pacbell!pbhyf!rob   OR  rob@pbhyf.PacBell.COM
Office:    (415) 823-2417  Room 4E850O San Ramon Valley Administrative Center
Residence: (415) 827-4301  R Bar JB, Concord, California

tim@attdso.att.com (Tim J Ihde) (05/02/89)

In article <5168@pbhyf.PacBell.COM> rob@PacBell.COM (Rob Bernardo) writes:
|A user writes:
|> More specifically, all my outgoing mail goes to dalcs!user@node.domain,
|> but I would like my return address to be bill@biomel.uucp . . .
|
|I had the same problem on one of our internal systems that does not "do"
|INTERNET.  What I did was use the Reply-To header to specify my internet
|address.  And instead of entering it each time on the headers editing
|screen, I simply put it in my .elm/elmheaders file.  Any respectable
|mailer will give priority to a Reply-To: header over a From: header.
|(Well, at least ELM does!) This means other people that reply to your
|messages will reply using the internet address given in the Reply-To:
|and not the faulty one in the From: header.  Anyone using a dumb mailer
|will also be able to reply, because a dumb mailer will ignore the
|headers and simply work out the return path from the "From " (no colon)
|lines 

Well, sometimes.  A problem exists on System V R3 with mailx, however.  Mailx
is semi-smart, and tries to respectably use the Reply-To line.  Unfortunately
it will then choke on Internet addresses unless the site is running smail.

I understand that this will be fixed in Release 4, but for the moment I've
got the internet address in my .sig_remote file, which ELM will happily tack on
the end of my outgoing email.  People who know what it is can use it, those
that don't won't care.

	tim
-- 
Tim J Ihde				INTERNET:   tim@attdso.att.com
(201) 898-6687				UUCP:	    att!attdso!tim
"Blimey - this redistribution of wealth is more complicated than I'd thought!"
		- Dennis Moore and various Presidents