MAILADDR(7)							Linux User's Manual						       MAILADDR(7)

NAME

       mailaddr - mail addressing description

DESCRIPTION

       This manual page gives a brief introduction to SMTP mail addresses, as used on the Internet.  These addresses are in the general format

	    user@domain

       where a domain is a hierarchical dot separated list of subdomains.  For example, the addresses

	    eric@monet.berkeley.edu
	    Eric Allman <eric@monet.berkeley.edu>
	    eric@monet.berkeley.edu (Eric Allman)

       are valid forms of the same address.

       The  domain part (``monet.berkeley.edu'') may be the name of an internet host, or it may be a logical mail address.  The domain part is not
       case sensitive.

       The local part (``eric'') is often a user name, but its meaning is defined by the local software.  It can be case  sensitive,  but  usually
       isn't.	If you see a local-part that looks like garbage, it is usually because of a gateway between an internal e-mail system and the net,
       here are some examples:

	    "surname/admd=telemail/c=us/o=hp/prmd=hp"@some.where	     USER%SOMETHING@some.where		   machine!machine!name@some.where
	    I2461572@some.where

       (These are, respectively, an X.400 gateway, a gateway to an arbitrary inernal mail system that lacks proper internet support, an UUCP gate-
       way, and the last one is just boring username policy.)

       The real-name part (``Eric Allman'') can either be placed first, outside <>, or last, inside ().  (Strictly speaking  the  two  aren't  the
       same,  but  the	difference is outside the scope of this page.)	The name may have to be quoted using "" if it contains certain characters,
       most commonly ``.'':

	    "Eric P. Allman" <eric@monet.berkeley.edu>

   Abbreviation.
       Many mail systems let users abbreviate the domain name.	For instance, users at berkeley.edu may get away with ``eric@monet'' to send  mail
       to Eric Allman. This behavior is deprecated.

   Route-addrs.
       Under  some  circumstances  it may be necessary to route a message through several hosts to get it to the final destination.  Normally this
       happens automatically and invisibly, but sometimes not, particularly with old and broken software.  Addresses which show these  relays  are
       termed ``route-addrs.''	These use the syntax:

	    <@hosta,@hostb:user@hostc>

       This  specifies	that the message should be sent to hosta, from there to hostb, and finally to hostc.  Some hosts disregard route-addrs and
       send directly to hostc.

       Route-addrs occur frequently on return addresses, since these are generally augmented by the software at each host.  It is generally possi-
       ble to ignore all but the ``user@hostc'' part of the address to determine the actual sender.

   Postmaster.
       Every site is required to have a user or user alias designated ``postmaster'' to which problems with the mail system may be addressed.  The
       ``postmaster'' address is not case sensitive.

   FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
       rtfm.mit.edu and many mirrors store a collection of FAQs.  Please find and use a nearby FAQ archive; there are dozens  or  hundreds  around
       the  world.   mail/inter-network-guide  explains  how to send mail between many different networks.  mail/country-codes lists the top level
       domains (e.g. ``no'' is Norway and ``ea'' is Eritrea).  mail/college-email/part* gives some useful tips on how to locate e-mail addresses.

FILES

       /etc/aliases
       ~/.forward

SEE ALSO

       binmail(1), mail(1), mconnect(1), forward(5), aliases(5), sendmail(8), vrfy(8), RFC822 (Standard for the Format of Arpa Internet Text  Mes-
       sages).

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					    1995-06-24							       MAILADDR(7)