Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 00:36:34 +0000 From: ian j hart <ianjhart@freeloader.freeserve.co.uk> To: Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm@toybox.placo.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Sendmail and Identd Message-ID: <3A906A92.2101BC03@freeloader.freeserve.co.uk> References: <005b01c099f2$d9f632e0$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com>
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Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: > > Hi Ian, > > I think you perhaps misunderstand: even if you set up > IMP you STILL would have had to setup those 1500 accounts. Can you point me to some software? I seriously doubt I can get this past the staff, but it's worth a look. Can't see anything in ports. > > I also beg to differ - this is very clearly a mail client > problem. This I know, I have bald patches to prove it. > As you have realized, Sendmail does not rewrite the > From: address. This is because the mail client program is > in charge of correctly putting the user@whateverdomain address > into the outgoing mail. This is inherent to the SMTP protocol. > > Your blaming the failure of the user's mail client program > to properly create the username@whateverdomain address on the > mail client program itself. However, this is wrong, the client > program is doing what it's supposed to be doing. Not all the time it isn't. When the users home (network) directory is available their email settings are transfered to whatever workstation they are sat at. This is part of my plan to make the network as transparent as possible to the users. It works just like *at home*. However, when the network connection fails windows SILENTLY replaces these settings with some from the local hard drive. This is not what the client program is supposed to be doing. AFAIK IE4 does not exhibit this behavior. The new _identities_ appear to be the cause. To revert the software on all the clients would take me weeks. I would have to roll-out the software in one go. (Having USER.DAT files from different versions doesn't strike me as a good idea.) The bottom line on this is that I would have to wait until the summer break. So I can't fix the client. Turning off email for 4 months not an option. I have to hack the server. Hobsons choice as we say. > > If you give your users the ability to retrieve e-mail via > POP3 and transmit it via SMTP then you give them the > responsibility to make sure that the From address is correct. > If they are unwilling or unable to do this (due either to > their misunderstanding how the client program operates, or > due to their logging in somewhere and allowing some mystical > "thang" to change the From address) then clearly you have > to either force them to use a mail client that they DO understand, > or force them to use a mail client that they have no control > over, and that you do. This is what IMP is. IMP is a mail > client that runs ON THE MAILSERVER, instead of on a remote > desktop, so instead of having a remote client that has unreachable > settings, you have a mail client that is local to the mailserver > that YOU can control. I see the problem more like this. When a user logs on they should get their own email settings, or none at all. Not a seemingly random selection. This is _my_ problem. User missconfiguration or deliberate spoofing is a different problem. > > I also beg to differ with your statement: > > "...No-one checks account details every time > they mail...." > > Guess what, _I_ do. You are one in a million (estimate). > I'm sure that any power users among > your students do also. Not a chance. Age range is 11-17 BTW. > It's simple enough to do when using > a mail client program like Eudora, which _does_ place the > >From address IN THE MESSAGE DURING COMPOSITION unlike > Microsoft Outlook which hides it. In fact, that's another > answer to your problem - because Eudora doesen't give a rat's > ass about what drive your logged into. I wouldn't dissagree, but they want windows + IE. This is policy, I just implement. In any case installing Eudora would mean a full rollout. > > Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com > Author of: The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide > Book website: http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: ianjhart@omega.my.domain [mailto:ianjhart@omega.my.domain]On > > Behalf Of ian j hart > > Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001 11:10 AM > > To: Ted Mittelstaedt > > Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG > > Subject: Re: Sendmail and Identd > > > > > > Ted Mittelstaedt wrote: > > > > > > What about installing IMP or other webinterface and forcing the > > > students that aren't savvy enough to know how to use their > > > mail client properly to use that instead? This allows you to > > > centralize all administration on the mail clients to in effect > > > the central mailserver, and in addition allows the students to > > > check mail from any browser. > > > > > > Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com > > > Author of: The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide > > > Book website: http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com > > > > [snip original message] > > > > Thanks for your reply, but... :) > > > > I only installed Internet access and mail just before Xmas. We've just > > spent a half-term getting (1500) user accounts setup. I would not be a > > very popular guy if I changed track at this point. > > > > The problem is not with 'savvy'. It's a _feature_. You log on and send > > some mail. If the network drive with your profile is not available you > > get the default user settings. (No-one checks account details every time > > they mail). The mail goes out with a random users return address. > > Sendmail only checks the hostname, which is correct (and masqueraded > > anyway). The only clue that this is happening is when you read mail and > > the prompted account name is not your own. God bless Bill Gates. > > > > -- > > ian j hart > > ICT Technician. > > Cardinal Newman School. > > -- ian j hart ICT Technician Cardinal Newman School To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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