Re: ["Jetmail System" <>] Mail Error
On Sun, Nov 28, 1999 at 09:34:25AM +1100, Brian May wrote
>
> Anyone knows what this error means?
>
> This message *was* posted to debian-user, despite the error. I
> got replies...
>
> Also, note that the address the bounced message was posted "to"
> an illegal address.
>
> Brian@snoopy.apana.org.au doesn't exist, nor have I ever used it.
>
> <bam@debian.org missing >
>
You can tell that the post to debian-user was successful, by the
Received: fields in the returned copy of your mail:
> Received: from murphy.debian.org([209.41.108.199]) by 21cn.com(JetMail 2.3.2.1)
> with SMTP id /aimcque/jmail.rcv/5/jm0383de3cf; Thu, 25 Nov 1999 22:18:17 -0000
It looks like the message you received was generated by a list
recipient in 21cn.com; a quick whois shows this to be somewhere
in Guandong, China.
I'd guess they are running a poorly-configured end-user mail filtering
tool, or perhaps a badly mangled/configured MTA, as:
- The return address they have chosen is a composite of the fields
in your own From and Sender fields:
> To: Brian@snoopy.apana.org.au, May <bam@debian.org
(best guess: take the first work from From:, and qualify it with
the Sender: domain).
- They are objecting to the recipient as listed in the text of the
message, not to the envelope recipient.
Further breakage at their end is evident in that they used murphy.debian.org
(the host that handed them your message) as a relay for snoopy.apana.org.au.
Depending on which web pages you read, JetMail is either a FidoNet-oriented
list manager for the Atari ST, or a "powerful Internet standards-based
email server for small companies, businesses, and corporate remote offices.
It is designed to be simple for the novice administrator to setup and
configure." Sounds like one to avoid, in either event :-).
I'd guess that the message you got reflects either someone's badly broekn
attempt to prevent mail relaying, or a failure of their mail filtering
setup due to not being able to deal with "To:" fields that don't correspond
to known local addresses (perhaps it is a local "unbundler", handling mail
as a gateway for a hidden domain, that requires recognisable To: addresses
to allow forwarding to appropriate recipients?).
I wouldn't worry about it, unless it keeps happening; it looks like it is
Someone Else's Problem.
John P.
--
huiac@camtech.net.au
john@huiac.apana.org.au
"Oh - I - you know - my job is to fear everything." - Bill Gates in Denmark
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