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Re: Ways to add new features

2005-11-14 12:14:41
At 03:33 2005-11-14 -0700, Google Kreme wrote:

* DNSBL lookups

Everything else on your list I can go with, but this is way outside
the scope of procmail and I would NOT want to see it included.

Er, most users don't have access to change DNSBL configuration at the 
MTA.  Further, there are plenty of situations where a DNSBL lookup provides 
useful statistical information without warranting rejecting the message 
outright (which is what an MTA configuration would do).  Checking that a 
host is or isn't in a DNSBL can allow you to track which DNSBLs would have 
blocked a spam message (AT THAT TIME - not at some subsequent statistics 
run when the DNSBLs contain different data), or if it would have rejected 
valid traffic, allowing you to subsequently revise your MTA configuration 
without risking mail to an arbitrary selection of DNSBLs.  DNSBL-type 
lookups are also useful for tracking country of origin on messages.

There are other tools out there that already integrate well with procmail
that can handle DNSBL.

At a cost of multiple external process calls.  I'm talking about a simple 
IP octet reversal and DNS lookup - and I referred to it as DNSBL since 
that's what most people would recognize the utility of, though more general 
NS capabilities are desired (MX, simple hostname resolution, TXT records, etc).

And that's ignoring the fact that DNSBL should be handled at the SMTP 
transaction phase and NOT at the LDA phase...

IF you're rejecting the message.  a DNSBL lookup doesn't necessarily imply 
that.

* having formail as a separate program seems rather silly

Perhaps, but it certainly makes some things rather good, and the
logic of it makes sense to me.  I don't see how it hurts anything, at
least.

I agree that formail as a separate program still has a lot of utility.  I 
also agree that at least having SOME of the most commonly used formail 
features integrated into procmail would be very useful and timesaving.

---
  Sean B. Straw / Professional Software Engineering

  Procmail disclaimer: <http://www.professional.org/procmail/disclaimer.html>
  Please DO NOT carbon me on list replies.  I'll get my copy from the list.


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