In <v0420480bb30efe80045d(_at_)resnick2(_dot_)qualcomm(_dot_)com> Pete Resnick
<presnick(_at_)qualcomm(_dot_)com> writes:
On 3/12/99 at 12:16 PM +0000, Charles Lindsey wrote:
There is no current Resent-By field, though we could invent one. However:
Yes, I meant "Resent-From", didn't I :-( .
People keep saying that the Resent headers are not intended for
mailing lists, but if not, what _are_ they intended for? And how am
I supposed to deduce from the text of DRUMS why they are not
suitable for this purpose?
To quote DRUMS, Resent fields are intended to note that a message was
"reintroduced into the transport system by a user". A user. Not a
process.
But the use of automatic mailing systems of all sorts has got us all used
to the idea that "users" include bots of all sorts. What other provisions
of DRUMS will suddenly become ineffective if you decide that the whole
thing only applies to human users?
But looking at it again, would it not be better to admit that these
headers ARE useful for mailing lists. Surely SOMETHING is needed so that
you can tell your message had come via a mailing list, and it is also
needed for loop detection (Received headers are too messy for that). The
List-* headers do not seem quite right for the job (they are, in any case,
intended for a slightly different purpose - namely facilitiating
(un)subscription). So why not make Resent "official"?
--
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
Email: chl(_at_)clw(_dot_)cs(_dot_)man(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk Web:
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl
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