mailaddr.7

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.Dd Apr 1, 2004
.Dt MAILADDR 7
.Os MASTODON 4
.Sh NAME
.Nm mailaddr
.Nd mail addressing description
.Sh DESCRIPTION
Mail addresses are based on the ARPANET protocol listed at the end of this
manual page.  These addresses are in the general format
.Bl -tag -width orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.It user@domain
.El
.Pp
where a domain is a hierarchical dot separated list of subdomains.  For
example, the address
.Bl -tag -width orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.It orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.El
.Pp
is normally interpreted from right to left: the
message should go to the
.Sy pell.UUCP
gateway, after which it should go to the local host
brazil.  When the message reaches brazil it is delivered to the user
.Ql orc .
.Pp
Unlike some other forms of addressing, this does not imply any routing.
Thus, although this address is specified as an ARPA address, it might
travel by an alternate route if that were more convenient or efficient.
For example, at Pell, the associated message would probably go directly
to brazil over the Ethernet rather than going via UUCP.

.Ss Abbreviation.
Under certain circumstances it may not be necessary to type the entire
domain name.  In general, anything following the first dot may be omitted
if it is the same as the domain from which you are sending the message.
For example, a user on
.Ql gehenna.pell.UUCP
could send to
.Ql orc@brazil
without adding the
.Ql pell.UUCP
since it is the same on both sending
and receiving hosts.

.Ss Compatibility.
Certain old address formats are converted to the new format to provide
compatibility with the previous mail system.
In particular,
.Bl -tag -width orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.It host:user
.El
is converted to
.Bl -tag -width orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.It user@host
.El
to be consistent with the \fIrcp\fP(1) command.
.Pp
Also, the syntax
.Bl -tag -width orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.It host1!host2!...!hostN!user
.El
.Pp
is converted to:
.Bl -tag -width orc@brazil.pell.UUCP
.It host2!...!hostN!user@host1
.El
.Pp
When being sent through a TCP network. (Under the hope that the mail server
at
.Em host1
will understand UUCP syntax too.)
.Ss Case Distinctions.
Domain names (i.e., anything after the ``@'' sign) may be given in any mixture
of upper and lower case with the exception of UUCP hostnames.  Many hosts
do
.Em NOT
accept any combination of case in user names (MULTICS and many Unix
hosts), so as a general rule you should assume that the user
.Sy Orc
is not the same person as
.Sy orc .

.Ss Postmaster.
Every site is required to have a user or user alias designated
.Ql postmaster
to which problems with the mail system may be addressed.
.Sh BUGS
The RFC822 group syntax (``group:user1,user2,user3;'') is not supported.
.Pp
UUCP- and ARPANET-style addresses do not coexist politely.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr mail 1 ,
.Xr postoffice 8 ;
.Pp
DARPA
Internet Request For Comments
.%T RFC822 .