At Tue, 3 Apr 2007 10:15:57 -0400 Frieda Reichsman <friedar at nsm.umass.edu> wrote: > > > > On Apr 3, 2007, at Apr 3, 8:06 AM, Robert Heller wrote: > > > > > What ISP is creating E-Mail addresses with spaces in them? I thought > > that was forbotten by RFC822? The local part (before the '@') should > > only contain alphnumbercs (letters, digits), and - and _ and . and > > nothing else. > > > > Right-- should-- but doesn't. I appreciate how strange this is. > > What I know at present is that this email address was created long > ago, and has been used without problems for many years, 10 or more > I'd guess. The email server address has my friend's business name in > it, so I assume it is something someone set up many years ago > specifically for the business (I don't know what that says about who > his ISP is, but I can ask him...) He's well aware that it is a > strange thing to have a space in a username, but since everything has > worked for all this time on his many Win machines, there's not much > motivation to change it. The reality is that a space in his E-Mail should not work at all on *ANY* playform, especially the 100's of *Sendmail* daemons running on 100's of UNIX (and Linux) servers around the world. And should not have for for anytime in the last 30-40 years. His *real* E-Mail address cannot have a space in it. Period. Something is going on with how things are setup on either his MS-Windows machines OR with how things are setup with his ISP -- most likely his ISP is doing something strange and wonderfull somehow and somehow is setup to communicate the 'strangeness and wonderfullness' on to his MS-Windows E-Mail clients. Otherwise, he just does not have a legitimate (syntacticly correct) E-Mail address as far as the rest of the world is concerened. I am wondering: how is it even working at all -- it just should not be. It is entirely possible to have a *private* system which can violate any RFC rules it likes, but where it connects to the *public* Internet, something needs to convert things to fit the rules. Some E-Mail clients (and probably servers -- procmail can be setup to do this easily enough) can be configured to do a sort of split/merge game for a family (or business) E-Mail address: one *real* (RFC822 legal) E-Mail address for the whole family/business, which get split amounst several E-Mail readers/writers (humans), based on the 'comment' part of an E-Mail address: Joe Smith <smiths at familynet.com> Jane Smith <smiths at familynet.com> Sally Smith <smiths at familynet.com> Little Joe Smith <smiths at familynet.com> Note: that all of the above have the *same* e-mail address (<smiths at familynet.com>), just with a different name part (ignored by the likes of sendmail). The E-Mail client (or front-end, possibly on the server for familynet.com), splits incoming mail to four E-Mail inboxes, one for each of the members of the Smith family. This might be what is going on (or some variation) with your client at some level -- either in his MS-Windows E-Mail client(s) or on his ISP's server (more likely). > > He is interested in Macs and has bought a MacBook to explore. This is > not someone who is or will be necessarily switching to Mac. > Particularly if email that Win is handling cannot be handled by the > Mac machine. > > I'm not being at all critical of Mac - I'm a devoted fan and long > time user. Not tolerating a heinous, objectionable, incorrect, etc. > email address may be a good thing in the long run and probably > reflects a better design. But in this instance it would be great if > there were a work-around... It is not a 'heinous, objectionable, incorrect, etc.' -- it is an *impossible* email address, if it really has a space in it. It really has nothing to do with being a better design either. Your client's real, public E-Mail address does not have a space in it. It can't if it is being used with the public Internet. He would not be able to send or receive E-Mail. Period. E-Mail MTAs around the world would be rejecting the E-Mail (being unable to parse the To/From/Cc/etc. headers with such an E-Mail address in them). Virtually all E-Mail clients would refuse to let people send to such an address (they would be popping up little warning messages about illegal To: or Cc: headers). *Something else is going on.* It should be possible for your client to get his E-Mail with the MacBook if he has a proper E-Mail address, you just need to talk to his ISP and find out just what the *real* E-Mail address is. I guess it *could* be that is ISP is in fact using MS-Windows Exchange Server, in some mode other than as a POP or IMAP server -- ie it is using Microsoft's *propriatary* E-Mail server hack, and is 'faking' E-Mail addresses with spaces in them somehow. In which case you *might* NEED a compatible Microsoft E-Mail client. I believe there are Microsoft E-Mail clients available for MacOSX. I don't know if the Microsoft E-Mail clients available for MacOSX can talk to MS-Windows Exchange Server, using the Microsoft propriatary E-Mail server hack. Again you need to talk to your client's ISP and find out what is *really* going on. > > Frieda > > > > -- > > Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 > > Deepwoods Software -- Linux Installation and Administration > > http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web Hosting, with CGI and Database > > heller at deepsoft.com -- Contract Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk > > > > /////////////////////////////////////////// > > Frieda Reichsman > Molecules in Motion > Interactive Molecular Structures > http://www.moleculesinmotion.com > > /////////////////////////////////////////// > > > > -- Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 Deepwoods Software -- Linux Installation and Administration http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web Hosting, with CGI and Database heller at deepsoft.com -- Contract Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk