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List:       list-managers
Subject:    Re: Strange address!
From:       Keith Moore <moore () cs ! utk ! edu>
Date:       1994-09-21 15:16:39
Message-ID: 199409211516.LAA04460 () wilma ! cs ! utk ! edu
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> I have a list with about 150 people.
> From time to time there are some problems with this list.
> The most times they are with people which have an address like:
>   dklann%heurikon.UUCP@cs.wisc.e         (sorry dklann!!)
> 
> Where might I read more about this kind of addresses?

I'm not sure what you mean by "this kind" of address, but...

at first glance, it looks like the address should really be:

dklann%heurikon.UUCP@cs.wisc.edu
                              ^^

That alone could explain why you are having problems.

Actually, this is a fairly ordinary Internet address.  The
'%' on the left hand side of the '@' sign is a commonly-used
convention for source routing -- if such a message were sent,
it would first go to cs.wisc.edu, which would then relay the
message to the address encoded on the left-hand side of the '@'
sign.  But the rules for interpreting addresses forbid anyone
besides cs.wisc.edu from using the information on the left
side of the '@' for routing.

The host 'heurikon' is *probably* a UUCP node, and it might 
even be reachable from the Internet host cs.wisc.edu.  On the 
other hand, addresses of the form user%node.uucp@domain or
node!user@domain often occur because an Internet machine
re-wrote the UUCP address node!user to make it legal for 
the Internet.  (Internet standards require that all addresses 
conform to the local-part@domain syntax...for the exact
grammar, see rfc 822.)

But UUCP is a swamp.  Messages originating from UUCP networks
often have completely bogus header addresses such as 'node!user',
where 'node' is not reachable by the UUCP->Internet gateway.
So even though the Internet gateway rewrites the address into
a form which is legal syntax for the Internet, any attempt to
send mail to it will fail.

Of course, some addresses of the form user%node.uucp@domain
are perfectly legal.
 
> Or where is a digest of how to solve this problems.

In general, a list manager has only one reliable strategy
to deal with bogus addresses:  to delete any address
for which mail bounces consistently.  Even someone with
considerable e-mail expertise will end up doing this most 
of the time.   There are odd cases where it is possible
to recognize the problem and fix it, but this is the
rare exception rather than the rule.

> OK, if I had to do it I will read all about networks and their
> addresses. But I think that is not my job. I want to have a
> a list and some books where I could read about my problems.

You could read up on the email standards, but this wouldn't help
you solve this kind of problem.  The kind of information you need
isn't written down anywhere that I know of, and even if it were,
it is continually changing.

Good luck

Keith Moore

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