/etc/mail/access weirdness

Kevin Spicer kevins at BMRB.CO.UK
Mon Apr 5 23:33:48 IST 2004


On Mon, 2004-04-05 at 23:05, Billy A. Pumphrey wrote:
> Ok, I started checking them.  I checked only about 5.  Only 1 I seen a cc: on it.  Here is one message and header that I didn't see a cc on it to see.
>
Don't look in the message, message headers are worthless.  Look in your
maillog to find out who the message was actually sent to.

I'm not sure you understand the envelope, headers and body concept
(forgive me for covering this if you do).  Ordinary postal mail makes a
good analogy.  When you send a letter it is conventional to put certain
details at the top (such as your address, the date) this is like the
headers in an email.  The text of the letter (on the same sheet of
paper) would be the body.  The sheet of paper with the message on is
then placed inside an envelope for passage through the postal service.
Note that the envelope is just a convenience to hold your letter
together and provide the postal workers with the information they need
to deliver it.  Now imagine you have a secretary who opens you mail and
discards the envelope before passing it to you - this is what happens
with email, the recipient never gets to se the envelope.  However it is
the envelope that determine who the mail gets delivered to, not the
contents.

Just as in the physical world it is easy to mix letters up and send them
to the wrong recipients by putting them in the wrong envelopes [yes I
have done that] it is equally easy to do similar things with email.




BMRB International
http://www.bmrb.co.uk
+44 (0)20 8566 5000
_________________________________________________________________
This message (and any attachment) is intended only for the
recipient and may contain confidential and/or privileged
material.  If you have received this in error, please contact the
sender and delete this message immediately.  Disclosure, copying
or other action taken in respect of this email or in
reliance on it is prohibited.  BMRB International Limited
accepts no liability in relation to any personal emails, or
content of any email which does not directly relate to our
business.



More information about the MailScanner mailing list