Re: Identities and Bcc:

[Jules Bean <jules jellybean co uk>]

On Wed, Aug 29, 2001 at 12:37:05PM +0100, Brian Stafford wrote:
> Bcc: is a real header and always has been.  It may legitimately appear in
> a message listing zero or more mailbox addresses.  Its purpose was described
> in RFC 822 (published 1982) and has not changed since.  RFC 2822 describes
> it too.

Well, I apologise for the confusion.  You're right, bcc: is a real
header: what I was trying to point out was its difference from the
other headers, which is that Bcc: headers are stripped from the copies
sent to some of the recipients.

> 
> The confusion probably arises because many MTA and MUA implementors or admins
> thereof can't be bothered to read the standards.  Sendmail for one has been
> known to be configured to strip Bcc: headers (violating RFC 821) from mail
> because the admin didn't actually understand what Bcc was for.

Or perhaps because it seemed like a bright idea, since it allows the
MUA to invoke the MTA only once, rather than twice, for each message,
if the MTA will do the Bcc: stripping for you?


Jules