[nos-bbs] Sending Mail via wl2k to internet address using Thunderbird

Michael Fox - N6MEF n6mef at mefox.org
Mon May 16 22:11:49 EDT 2016


Ah <headslap>.  Yes, right.  It modifies the envelope address, not the message address.

So, yes, to do what you need, there would need to be an additional option in spool/rewrite that would cause the message address to also be updated/rewritten.  

BTW, I wouldn't mess with the quotes.  That's RFC standard message formatting and a much more complicated problem to solve than adding a prefix. <sigh>For a service designed to deliver Internet email (WL2K), one would think that they would do so according to the RFCs and without resorting to such non-standard devices.</sigh>

It probably goes without saying that rewriting the message address can lead to unintended consequences elsewhere.  So any such new functionality should be a new, additional option, rather than a change to existing behavior.  

It sounds like you've got a great use for amateur radio to solve a real-world problem.  Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Michael
N6MEF


> -----Original Message-----
> From: nos-bbs [mailto:nos-bbs-bounces at tapr.org] On Behalf Of Peter
> mcCorison
> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 5:21 PM
> To: TAPR xNOS Mailing List <nos-bbs at tapr.org>
> Subject: Re: [nos-bbs] Sending Mail via wl2k to internet address using
> Thunderbird
> 
> Micheal and list,
> 
> Thanks for your clear response. Your guess is exactly what we do. It all
> works fine except TB-->JNOS-->wl2k. Your analysis agrees with my thinking.
> I've tried the rewrite  suggestions you make. I'm able to change the
> internal To: address but that doesn't change the To: Address that's sent
> over the radio to RMS/wl2k. Some where In the JNOS docos there's the
> statement that none of the rewrite systems affect the actual To: address
> in the email. My tests confirm that statement.
> 
> So rewrite cannot add 'SMTP:' in front of the actual To: address, nor can
> it remove the quotes that screw up transfer to wl2k. I fear that a code
> patch will required to send  an email with Rfc-822 compliant To: address
> for the standard Internet to Winlink.
> 
> BTW, JNOS forwards emails from the bbs to wl2k just fine with the accursed
> SMTP: prepended to the address.
> 
> Thanks again, Micheal, for your thoughtful reply.
> 
>  - Peter, K2SPR
> 
> 
> > On May 16, 2016, at 4:36 PM, Michael Fox - N6MEF <n6mef at mefox.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > Peter,
> >
> > I'm confused.  You started off talking about Thunderbird and WL2K.  Then
> you switched to JNOS.  I'm going to guess that maybe you have:
> >
> > Thunderbird <--POP/SMTP--> JNOS <--B2F/Radio--> RMS/CMS <--SMTP-->
> Internet
> > Perhaps your JNOS machines can also forward with each other over radio.
> >
> > If that's not correct, then ignore the rest and please explain.
> >
> > The problem, of course, is WL2K's bizarre "SMTP:" prefix.  As you
> pointed out, it's not a valid Internet address and everything else in the
> world has difficulty with it (and rightly so!).
> >
> > I have not tried forwarding over radio between JNOS and WL2K.  But,
> assuming it works similarly to forwarding with other BBSs, namely that I
> use spool/rewrite to drop mail into a mailbox and then use forward.bbs to
> send that mailbox to the WL2K station, then I can think of an alternative
> for outbound (JNOS to Internet) mail:
> >
> > Have your end users write addresses as normal Internet addresses, no
> SMTP: prefix.  That should keep Thunderbird or any other standard mail
> client happy.  Then send those messages to JNOS as usual.
> >
> > In JNOS spool/rewrite, for anything that you want to go out to the
> Internet, rewrite it to add the SMTP: prefix and add an "r" at the end of
> the rule.  The "r" sends it back through the rules again.  Add another
> rule near the top (so it doesn't have to go through so many rules again)
> to match anything with "SMTP:" at the start of the address and put it into
> a mailbox like "inet" (or whatever).  In forward.bbs, list the inet
> mailbox to forward to Winlink.
> >
> > Again, I haven't tried this.  But if forwarding to WL2K works like
> forwarding to other BBSs, it should work.
> >
> > Also, I don't know what the inbound situation would look like from WL2K
> to JNOS.  If WL2K includes SMTP: in the message it sends JNOS, then the
> above won't work (it will create a loop) and more thought will be needed.
> (How about a JNOS system on the mainland?!)
> >
> > Another option is to use the Outpost client.  It's intended specifically
> for packet messaging and is not as feature rich as Thunderbird.
> Therefore, other workflow factors may preclude that choice.  But it does
> accept SMTP: and RMS: prefixes since it has to deal with WL2K and other
> BBS types.  We have a rather large (200+) user community all using
> Outpost.  Again, I do
> 
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