At 11:35 AM 1/16/97 -0800, Eric Paul-Hus wrote:
>Bon Matin all,
>
>Let's see if I can avoid making an ass out of me today ;-)
 
The only truly asinine question is one not asked.
 
>I have one user that have this error several times a day:
>> ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
>> "|/usr/local/bin/procmail #user" (expanded from: <[log in to unmask]>)
>>
>> ----- Transcript of session follows -----
>> Memory fault - core dumped
>> 554 "|/usr/local/bin/procmail #user"... unknown mailer error 139
 
This user is apparently using procmail.  I use it, and am on its
mailing list, so I'll try and help with what I can here.
 
The stuff between double quotes "" is undoubtedly an entry in the user's
.forward file.  Procmail instructions say that it should contain:
    |IFS=' '&&exec /usr/local/bin/procmail -f-||exit 75 #YOUR_USERNAME
so that's a starting point.  YOUR_USERNAME there gets replaced by the
actual username; it isn't always needed but in the words of the man
page "it is however a necessary kludge against overoptimising sendmail
programs".
 
>The UNIX guru overthere said that something in the headers of certain
>message (like the 3 -liners received: with timestamp, host, software
>version and for-user) may cause those crashes.
 
Not likely.  I've seen no reports on the mailing list of headers causing
core dumps.  And I've seen some pretty huge headers go through just fine.
 
Some more credible things to check:
        - is procmail actually in /usr/local/bin and world-executable?
        - does sendmail allow users to run programs?  Is smrsh involved?
        - there are other possible permissions issues as well.
 
I'd suggest starting with the user fixing up his/her .forward file
according to the man page instructions.
 
Also, before posting back, have the user check what version they
are using, with the "procmail -v" command.  This should be done on the
machine used to *deliver* mail, not the machine where the user's
account resides (unless they are the same).
 
>I suggested that user to change to IETFHDR in case the "Internet Style
>Header" are more suited to BSD UNIX mail-host...
>
>1) Am I on the right track
 
Nope.  Won't make a difference (although once the user gets procmail
to work, s/he will get different headers to parse depending on the
choice).
 
>2) What are the difference between FULL822 and IETFHDR (I did try
>recently to set my INDEX account to IETFHDR but viewing via Netscape
>mail View Source, nothing striked me as "different", but then every
>knows what are my observations skills lately :-)
 
One example (from my own list, to which I subscribe once each way):
If the original person sent:
        To: [log in to unmask],[log in to unmask],listname-L@whatever
        Cc: [log in to unmask]
then the IETFHDR subscriber will receive these headers, whereas the
FULL822 or SUBJECTHDR subscribers will receive:
        To: listname-L@whatever
        Comments: To: [log in to unmask],[log in to unmask],listname-L@whatever
        Comments: Cc: [log in to unmask]
 
Another example: whatever the listowner sets for "Reply-To:" will not
be seen by the IETFHDR receiver, who will only see the Reply-To (if any)
set by the poster.
 
Cheers,
Stan