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List:       list-managers
Subject:    Re: getting list mgrs atten
From:       Keith Moore <moore () cs ! utk ! edu>
Date:       1994-09-27 0:42:49
Message-ID: 199409270042.UAA12536 () wilma ! cs ! utk ! edu
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> > First of all, fix your mailer!  It should not be sending bounce messages 
> > to the errors-to line, it should be sending them to the return address
> > from the SMTP envelope!  Errors-to is not only non-standard, it is 
> > broken (as you have discovered).
> 
> really?  It seems at least anti-social to bounce a message back to either 
> the ist (Reply-to:) or the original message poster (From:) if some 
> subscriber acct has been deleted.  

You're absolutely right, which is why bounced messages don't go to either of
these addresses.

Bounced messages should be sent to the return address from the message delivery
envelope.  If the envelope itself is no longer available, the envelope return
address should have been copied to the Return-path header by the last SMTP
server to handle the message; so the bounced message should go to that address.

> In this particular message, the possible reply addresses are From, Reply-to, 
> and Errors-to.  Only Errors-to seems remotely appropriate as bounce 
> destination.
> 
> Am I missing something here?

Yes.  Your mailer should have retained the envelope return address from when it
was received via SMTP, and sent the error to that address.  Or if the last SMTP
server wasn't responsible for final delivery, it should have copied the envelope
return address to the Return-Path header (NOT Errors-to), and your mailer should
have bounced the message to *that* address.

Keith

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