Re: Fw: Administrivia: ORBS

[woods () most weird com (Greg A. Woods)]

[ On Saturday, January 15, 2000 at 23:12:01 (+0000), Patrick Evans wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: Fw: Administrivia: ORBS
>
> The only thing we can do which allows all of our customers to send
> mail out with their address as the From: header, and not force them to
> use our dialup service (if we had one) is to run a completely open
> relay. POP before SMTP is a crufty hack, IMNSHO, and SMTP auth isn't
> implemented to enough of an extent that I'd be comfortable running it.

I think you underestimate the power of the "POP before SMTP" form of
SMTP authorisation.  It works very well.  Some MUA clients have to be
configured to use this scheme, but many do it by default.

It would also be relatively easy for you to distribute a small
authentication application to your customers too.  Such things are easy
to find off-the-shelf in fact, even for the crappy client platforms most
of your customers are likely to be using.

> Anyone who says there's absolutely no reason to run an open relay is
> talking absolute codswallop - as with every situation like this it
> requires a reasoned political decision at the site in question. Our
> solution? We run a closed relay and hope our customers understand the
> situation if they run into problems. On the whole, they do...but we've
> lost a few as a result.

In fact I do know what I am talking about because I am in fact
practising what I preach.

It may be difficult for someone who is not, or does not employ, a
systems programmer to ensure their systems are capable of the schemes
I've discussed, but IMNSHO if anyone running any kind of Internet
service doesn't have a systems programmer either on staff or on retainer
then they're bound to fail or be bought out eventually anyway.

-- 
                                                        Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098      VE3TCP      <gwoods () acm org>      <robohack!woods>
Planix, Inc. <woods () planix com>; Secrets of the Weird <woods () weird com>