Bug#315128: exim4-config: Broken handling of /etc/mailname

[Marc Haber]

tags #315128 wontfix
severity #315128 wishlist
retitle #315128 /etc/mailname issues, raised after release of sarge
thanks

Hi,

On Mon, Jun 20, 2005 at 12:53:12PM -0500, John Goerzen wrote:
> The file /etc/mailname is used to form the default host part of e-mail
> addresses in the From line of various programs.  For instance, debchange
> -i will use it for its changelog messages.  reportbug uses it for bug
> reports.  Many programs use it.

Right. Exim4 uses it to qualify the From: (envelope and header).

> exim4-config is generating a bad /etc/mailname that leads to many
> troubles.

What exactly is a bad /etc/mailname? There is a Debconf question
asking about the mailname, and what is entered there ends up in
/etc/mailname.

> I remember submitting a bug about this before, but I can't
> find it.  Also, exim4-config's behavior is completely at odds with the
> other MTAs in Debian, such as postfix or sendmail.

Well, we tried to find out what the other MTAs do, with quite
disappointing success.

> On my system, its hostname is fritz.complete.org and the mailname should
> be complete.org.  The name fritz.complete.org can appear in Received
> headers and the like, but jgoerzen@fritz.complete.org is NOT a valid
> e-mail address at all.
> 
> After going through exim4's configuration, it set up /etc/mailname to be
> fritz.complete.org, although it is properly using complete.org in
> headers it generates itself.  However, this bad /etc/mailname value is
> leading other programs to use the wrong headers.
> 
> Worse, a grep through /etc/exim4 couldn't find an instance of
> /etc/mailname, so I know exim4 is using it somehow, but I can't figure
> out where.

Take a look in ./conf.d/rewrite/31_exim4-config_rewriting.
Additionally, /usr/sbin/update-exim4.conf uses the file's contents. 

This being said: Debian policy is more than unclear on how
/etc/mailname should be handled. We tried to solicit opinions, but
most of the other MTA maintainers didn't bother to comment in the wiki
page we created.

I think that I even asked for comments on debian-devel, pointing to
the wiki page http://wiki.debian.net/?EtcMailName. You have commented
back then, but didn't follow up again.

I am afraid that the exim4 packages are not going to change unless
there is formal policy requiring us to change. There is too many
chance for bad breakage during upgrades. We might have been able to
change in fall 2004, but now, with sarge out of the door and exim4
being installed on many systems out there, I seriously doubt that the
packages are going to change their behavior unless absolutely required.

Please, get Policy amended, /etc/mailname needs to be defined.

Greetings
Marc

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