The need for specifying the OFFICIAL domain name in a header

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#26

From: Margot Utterback
Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1992 20:42

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Recently, I contacted a workstation vendor about the mail system
that comes with the workstation.  The operating system is based
on System V release 4.  The mail system failed when the host portion
of an address was an alias or nickname.  The response was that 
RFC821 and RFC822 specify that the address must be the official
domain name and that the entries in the host file and any 
cname records in the DNS are irrelevent.

This seems a little farfetched to me.  First, the rfcs in theis
case seem to be irrelevent.  Don't they only specify what would
be in the headers, not the address given to the mailer?  Second,
why limit the address even in the header? You get the host portion,
ask the DNS what the MX record is.  It will respond with the
IP address and the canonical name.  Bingo, you have the official
name, just use that in the rest of the processing.  

So, do any of you out there see any reason for the limitation?

Brian Utterback
utterbac@husc.harvard.edu

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From: utterbac@husc10.harvard.edu (Margot Utterback)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers
Subject: The need for specifying the OFFICIAL domain name in a header
Message-ID: <1992Apr8.164249.10851@husc3.harvard.edu>
Date: 8 Apr 92 20:42:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Apr8.164249.10851
Organization: Harvard University Science Center
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