🚀 go-pugleaf

>The Smail3 script batchsmtp (used to
>send batched smtp scripts) is doing this:
>		echo "HELO <$LOCALHOST>"
>But when you use uusmtp (not batched), the <> are missing.
>
>What's the reason for this inconsistency?

Why is the <>'ing there in the first place?  BSMTP is supposed to be a
form of SMTP modified for use in a store-and-forward network.  It is
supposed to take one half of a normal SMTP conversation, bundle it up,
and send it across a store-and-forward network.

Looking in RFC-821 I see (Page 29):

.. 
         The following are the SMTP commands:
 
            HELO <SP> <domain> <CRLF>
..

And on page 30, domain is defined as:

             <domain> ::=  <element> | <element> "." <domain>
 
            <element> ::= <name> | "#" <number> | "[" <dotnum> "]"

The <>'ing around the definition of HELO does NOT mean you put <>'ing around
the text in the command.  Instead, the <>'ing is part of the name of
the token <domain>.

(I speak from experience as an implementer of BSMTP..)


<- David Herron <david@twg.com>, Just: Another E-Mail hacker ...
<-
<- As for the prevalence of gratuitous stupidity in modern life, well,
<- need I say more than "MS-DOS"? -- Bill Janssen