On 10 Jul 1993 14:22:20 GMT Eric Thomas said on LSTSRV-L:
>On Sat, 10 Jul 1993 02:02:13 -0400 "F. Scott Ophof" <[log in to unmask]>
>said:
>>Which single header in an email item consistently informs the reader (or
>>software) that  the item is from  a mailing list, and  lists the address
>>(and name) of  that mailing list? And  in such a way that  it is clearly
>>NOT mail from a *person*.
>In the general case, none.
 
Though I hoped otherwise, I'm not surprised to see this answer.
 
>Using the 'Sender:' is correct in  both worlds, the religious argument is
>about what to put in that field and what to do to the rest of the header.
>IETF lists come with a 'Sender:'  field, so don't let anyone convince you
>that this field cannot be used by mailing lists.
 
OK, it may be USED by mailing lists, but (according to RFC822) not
for the PURPOSE for which "Revised LISTSERV" uses it.
 
But if Internet mail contains addresses like <...-request@...> or
<owner-...@...> in the "Sender:" header to indicate the item comes
from an MLM, that to me doesn't ensure that those addresses will
consistently reflect the relevant mailing list.  In other words, if
the "Sender:"-addr is:
   <OWNER-listname@somewhere>  or  <listname-REQUEST@somewhere>
will the following ALWAYS be true?
   <listname@somewhere>
or could it also be:
   <[log in to unmask]>
or worse yet:
   <[log in to unmask]>
 
And besides <OWNER-..@..> and <..-REQUEST@..>, are there any other
such words that have the same ("guaranteed") behaviour?
 
Recently I've seen items from some "Revised LISTSERV"s which have
"X-List:" headers, and that header-line has up to now consistently
displayed the relevant and correct list-address itself.
Do I sense an intention to use (and advertise using) that header for
that SINGLE purpose?  If so, how does one ensure that that header
will only be used for THAT purpose?
 
Regards.
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