On Fri, 14. Nov 2008, 21:49:03 +0100, j...@uos.de wrote: > When msmtp does a SMTP EHLO to a server, it uses as a hostname > 'localhost' by default. In at least one case this resulted in one of my > e-mails being flagged as spam by a recipient's mail software. It was a > combination of factors, but apparently the 'localhost' hostname was > quite a big factor in it. > > I realize that this can be changed with the 'domain' option, which is > what I did. But maybe it would be smart to change the default to > something else then 'localhost'.
Finding a good default is difficult. Msmtp uses 'localhost' because it is often impossible to find a valid hostname automatically, especially in environments where msmtp is typically used: with dialup connections or behind NAT routers. The name must be a valid hostname, but RFC 1123 states that an SMTP server must not reject delivery because of an EHLO argument that does not match the senders IP address (section 5.2.5). The trivial example for such a hostname is localhost, so msmtp uses it. For these reasons I also think that spam filters that filter on EHLO arguments are at least questionable. If there's a good way to find a hostname and check that it is valid even outside the local net, we could use this as a new default and use 'localhost' only as a fallback. However, I don't know such a method. Blindly using the local hostname, like KMail does, may not be a good idea because names that are valid only in the local net might show up in mail headers. So unless a reliable method is found to automatically generate a default, I think it's better to stick with 'localhost' and use the 'domain' option where necessary. Martin -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
