"Eng-Leong \"Jacky\" Foo" <[log in to unmask]> asks:
>
>  I have set my list to "SEND= EDITOR" and this requires
>
> >If you  simply forward it back to the  list, using a mail
> >command that generates "Resent-" fields (ask your local user support or
> consult
> >the documentation of your mail program if in doubt), it will be
> distributed and
> >the explanations you  are now reading will be removed  automatically.
>
> I am using Windows 95 - the Windows Messaging mail system and fail to
> forward messages with the original sender's name intact when distributed.
>
> Could some one  help me. thanks
 
Then Bill Verity <[log in to unmask]> says:
>
> An editor would like some control on the From: line.  His reader's want
> to be able to tell mail is coming from the list.  The previous editor
> had worked from UNIX and had some tools that posted under a "list"
> userid.  The "real" From: line was simply the first line of the note
> body. [rest deleted]
 
My fingers have become worn asking for this feature (and/or complaining
about its non-existence).  The standard response goes something like
this (not in these words, but this is what it amounts to):
 
a) Use the OK mechanism (never mind that that's doesn't solve the
problem)
b) If you can't generate "Resent-From:", get a mailer that can
c) If your mailer doesn't let you control the "From:" line or if your
gateway rewrites it, it's brain-damaged; get one that can.
d) You don't really want or need to do this.
e) Here's a list of problems with what you want to do.
f) It's a problem with the (Internet|Mail Client|RFC *|IETF *|Gateway)
&& ^(Listserv)
 
Sorry to be harsh, but this appears to be a case of denial by L-Soft (or
an attempt to convert everyone to RiceMail, whatever that is--apparently
one of the rare breed of mail clients that actually generates these
"Resent-" headers in the way that Listserv likes--still wouldn't make it
through my [broken, of course] gateway). Majordomo's solution (make
entire message to be approved, INCLUDING headers, the body of the resent
message) addresses this completely (at least for a MUCH larger class of
mailers and systems).  (Hmm...Perhaps that's why L-Soft doesn't want to
do anything that looks similar. :-)
 
(If Listserv ever implemented this, presumably the "Resent-From:"
mechanism would also be retained for compatibility.)
 
Anyway, I'd like to have this message amount to more than a flame-like
voicing of frustration, so here is a description of the workaround
solution that I have actually implemented (and used for few years,
actually):
 
1. Get an Internet account with a Unix-Shell-type service provider (yes,
I got it primarily for this) that permits incoming mail to be filtered
by a program of your choice and that doesn't have a gateway or
/usr/lib/sendmail program that likes to rewrite "From:" lines.
 
2. Write a procmail script on this secondary account for mail going to
this account that looks for mail coming from my primary account (which I
am constantly logged onto but which has the aforementioned problem of
not being able to send out mail with original "From:" lines), with
special "control" and "password" headers that I *can* insert from my
primary account.  (Of course, the script would have to handle other mail
appropriately too--save or forward it, etc. ...)
 
3. When such a message is received, the procmail script strips off the
headers from my message, substitutes the relevant ones embedded in the
body of my message (the original headers) and pipes the rest to
"/usr/lib/sendmail -oi".
 
4. So when I want to resend a message transparently, I send a mail
message to this filtering account with these control headers (if you
can't insert non-standard headers with the mail client on your primary
account, you'll have to make do with encoding this information in the
"Subject:" line).  In the body of this message is the original message,
including original "From:", "Date:" and "Subject:" headers.  (Depending
on your environment, you can "write" and "read in" the original message
to do this, or cut and paste--you have to be in a window that diplays
headers and body to do this completely, e.g., Document>View Source in
Netscape Mail.)
 
"Yuck," you say?  (Or perhaps "Huh?" you say.)  But yes, be prepared to
go through hoops like this to get around this limitation.
 
Shahrukh Merchant
--
Shahrukh Merchant