On Wed, Mar 28, 2007 at 02:44:43PM -0400, Bob Johnson wrote:
[snip correct diagnosis of problem that is extensively discussed in the
RFCs for SMTP]
> I think the sending system should have a timeout longer than 60 seconds, but
> even so, this is a bug in Exim. At the moment I can't find a log entry that
> illustrates it, though.
No, this is not a bug in Exim. Remember that the timing of a TCP stream
isn't entirely synchronous, based on the fact that you have a certain
window of "in flight" data. As I say in my note above, there is extensive
discussion of this issue, and the RFC (and IETF standard) mandated
minimum timeout for a response to the final dot is 10 minutes, and has been
since 1980.
You could potentially call it a bug in SMTP if you like, but it is a
well-known and well-documented bug, and SMTP was designed with it based
on the fact that the aim was to design a reliable email protocol. The
sending side only gives up the responsibility for delivering the message
when it's absolutely sure that the other side has accepted that
responsibility.
Cheers
MBM
--
Matthew Byng-Maddick <mbm@???> http://colondot.net/
(Please use this address to reply)
