Message-Id: <199510101935.PAA04873@wilma.cs.utk.edu>
From: Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu>
To: drums@cs.utk.edu
cc: moore@cs.utk.edu
Subject: Re: What's the Sender header for? 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 10 Oct 1995 14:14:22 CDT."
             <9510101914.AA18082@dogie.macc.wisc.edu> 
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 1995 15:35:12 -0400
Sender: moore@cs.utk.edu

> This is related to Keith's report about MH's behavior that the
> "real electronic mail address" is included in the message.  I am
> asking where this concept of "real address" comes from.  What makes
> an address "real"?  Why is it important to distinguish?  Isn't
> Postmaster@munnari.oz.au just as "real" as any other workable address?

Instead of "real", how about "a stable address that uniquely identifies
the AGENT who sent the message".

And as for "AGENT", I'd define this as:

+ for any message sent as a result of a specific human action, the 
  AGENT is that human and the Sender address should be a stable address
  that *uniquely identifies* that human.

+ for any message sent as a result of an automatic process, the AGENT
  is the human being responsible for maintaining that process and fixing
  it if it breaks, and the Sender address should be a stable address
  such that mail sent to the address will reliably reach that human.