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#230 Add option to remove Sender header
When sending messages through mailman with Postfix, it
adds a new header called "Sender" in addition to the
Errors-To and Return-Path headers.
Outlook (probably mistakenly) sees the Sender header
and treats it like gold. All messages show up in the
user's mailbox as from list-bounces on behalf of
therealperson. What's worse is that the rules/filters
will only work on the list-bounces part and not
therealperson.
If we could selectively turn off the addition of the
Sender header (and be able to keep the other two), then
we should still be able to use bounces but have Outlook
be able to filter messages.
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RFC2822 (Para 3.6.2. - Originator fields) would suggest that simply not using
the Sender: header when Mailman is the agent responsible for the actual
transmission of the message is a breach of the RFC.
The problem with the behaviour of Outlook is discussed in the Mailman FAQ
here:
http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/faqw-mm.py?req=show&file=faq02.003.htp
A suggested code change which cosmetically improves the Outlook
presentation by changing the Sender: header value from the listname-
bounces alias to the listname alias is described there.
Paranthetically:
The Error-to: header is deprecated and only inserted for backward
compatibilty with old/broken MTAs.
The Return-path is not a header that travels with the message and is known
as a trace field. It is mandatory and normally inserted at the start of the
message, as a header, by the final SMTP delivery MTA and is the value of the
SMTP envelope sender.
As an aside, Outlook 2003 appears to allow filtering on the contents of From:
header wihtout any problems (as opposed to the From field displayed on the
GUI) and this does not involve the contents of the Sender: header.
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Thanks for that posting. The hack to comment that line out
definetly fixes the "problem". While I definetly agree that
putting in fixes to correct behavior in MS products sucks,
in this case, it would be great to just have it as an option
so we don't have to have the hacked code.
There are other very good reasons why list administrators need to be able to disable the Sender field:
(1) Spam filters (for example in Yahoo mail) often catch the <list>-bounces address
(2) Services like Boxbe often catch the <list>-bounces address and don't deliver the email
I manage lists, which I have just migrated to mailman, where a number of members use boxbe, and I get rejections from them. I could ask them to add the bounces address to their allowed list, but that shouldn't be necessary.
A much larger number of members use Yahoo email, and I suspect that all list postings are going straight to their spam folders (I also use Yahoo and have the same problem).
I've turned off bounce-processing, so there should be no need for the bounces address, but it's impossible to remove.
I'd much rather have emails reaching their recipients than earn myself a place in RFC-heavenby being technically correct.
As long as Outlook and Yahoo and boxbe are interpreting the rules differently, we need an option to turn off the Sender field. I'm perfectly happy for the detault to be to use Sender, and for the mailman developers to put in a comment saying that I will go to RFC-hell if I turn it off, but I need that option.
I am using the mailman provided by my hosting company, so I can't simply hack the code like other users do.
Thank you,
Loz (someone who would like to remain a mailman user)