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Reply To: | Forum on LISTSERV release 1.7 |
Date: | Fri, 12 Feb 1993 00:23:33 +0100 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
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On Thu, 11 Feb 1993 16:42:57 CST David E Boyes <[log in to unmask]> said:
>I have a version that shows 1.7d in the exec comments in production. The
>version available from LISTSERV@SEARN as of today still shows version
>1.5o in LSV$FWDC. The other exec (LSV$FORW) shows version 1.7e.
Yes, FWDC (the code that handles the /FORWARD command, as opposed to the
actual forwarding) hasn't changed in ages.
>I'm not sure I agree with this statement. Given that NOTE and
>PROFS-format mail are still officially acceptable (*I* don't think so,
>but the NIC still won't declare either to be bogus) and a lot of Vax
>sites still don't have or use a mailer, people end up with mail sent
>directly to their reader. Linking the two methods together generates a
>consistent behavior -- anything that looks like mail gets forwarded
>properly. The inconsistency of only having certain items forwarded
>because of stupid configurations at other sites is a serious problem to
>the end user.
I still stand by my statement: having the two methods available to the
user is not a good idea, precisely because of the inconsistency it will
generate if the files are not kept in synch. The problem is the same
whether you use XMAILER+LISTSERV or LMail+LISTSERV: you have to find a
mechanism to keep the two in synch, run only one, or expect problems. One
possible solution is a documented EXEC that issues commands to both
servers, if your users are docile enough. Another is an EXEC you'd run
once a day in one of the two servers to update its forwarding information
based on that of the other, which would be the "master" information
source.
I can't think of a good synchronization mechanism between the two
servers, given the difference in functionality. That is, LMail can do
more than LISTSERV in terms of forwarding syntax and support for multiple
forwarding addresses, so it wouldn't work to have LMail tell LISTSERV
"Hey, Joe told me to do that, so you make the same change". LISTSERV
could give such orders to LMail but what is to prevent the user from
issuing commands directly to LMail? A synchronization mechanism must work
both ways. And then there is the problem of statistics, which is another
can of worms. If it were a 50 lines change, I'd be happy to do it.
Eric
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