Date   : Tue, 17 Apr 1984 18:26:03 pst
From   : William C. Wells <wcwells%ucbopal.CC@Ucb-Vax.ARPA>
Subject: Re: nature of UUCP-Arpanet connection

In reply to:

       Date: 17 Apr 1984 17:40:15 EST (Tuesday)
       From: jose rodriguez <jrodrig@Mitre-Gateway.ARPA>
       Subject: nature of UUCP-Arpanet connection
       To: info-cpm@Brl-Aos.ARPA
       Cc: abn.iscams@Usc-Isid.ARPA, jrodrig@Mitre-Gateway.ARPA


       Fellow netlanders,

       Concerning the latest msg about the UUCP-Arpanet connection
       (and with fears of starting a long discussion in the wrong
       place) I got a few questions concerning this connection which I
       would like someone to answer me (and I am sure to the net too).

Yes you are right, a discussion about Internet/UUCP mail connections
should be elsewhere (eg. in the USENET news group "net.mail")
Here are some answers. (Can we limit future discussion to the USENET
news group "net.micro.cpm" / Internet mail distribution group "INFO-CPM"
connection?)

       The first questions are purelly informative and the latter ones
       are more of a "discussion" type.

       1) Can arpanet people send msgs to UUCP (and I guess Usenet)
       sites? Say through Berkeley? I am asking this because I have
       been sending msgs to UUCP sites for more than a year (for
       different reasons) and never had any response.

Yes. BUT, address formats are different. UUCP addresses require
source routing, eg. host1!host2!host3!hostid!userid
You must know the correct source routing. Note that "USENET"
is not a mail network, but a news distribution system which
may or may not use UUCP connections to forward articles between
USENET news sites.  It is easy to confuse a USENET path
with a UUCP mail address. They are not necessarily the same.

       2) Do UUCP people enter the source routing paths manually?

For most UUCP people, the answer is yes.       

       You will think there is some automating software for this.

There is. However the information about UUCP mail connections is
not accurate yet.

       3) Will the UUCP world be ever an Internet domain?
       
Yes, if they meet the requirements for a top domain name.
A central UUCP name registry has been established. A nameserver is
being developed. UUCP mail connections are in the process of being
mapped.

       I have seen paths like "joe@foovax.UUCP", do any mailer
       implements this?

"user@site.UUCP" is valid in USENET article heading, but not yet
fully implimented for UUCP mail. It is of course, not yet valid
within the Internet mail world.  The unix "sendmail" program
may be configured to permit local use of the UUCP top domain name.


       The following concerns mainly arpanet people:

       4) Considering the nature of the UUCP network, (no user  to
       user e-mail, small throughput (which arpanet people should
       worry about!), no restrictions, etc.) do you consider the
       UUCP-Arpanet connection usefull or of some value?  Or rewording
       the above, what was the purpose behind connecting the two
       networks in the first place?

The USENET news/INFO-CPM connection is useful in that it provides
greater coverage for the discussion of CPM. Whether UUCP/Internet
mail should be interconnected is another issue which I do not think
should be discussed here.

Bill Wells
wcwells@Berkeley.ARPA
ucbvax!wcwells