Subj : Re: ping netmail - Does M
To   : ACCESS DENIED
From : WKITTY42
Date : Thu Jan 31 2019 07:20 pm

On 09/02/14, Access Denied said the following...

AD>  wk> as for software that supports it, numerous netmail trackers recognize
AD>  wk> and respond to ping messages... OT-Track does, netmgr can be
AD>  wk> configured to, GIGO (FTN<->internet gateway package) can be configure
AD>  wk> to... there are others, as well...
AD>
AD> Unfortunately, according to the nodelist, only two people in zone 1
AD> support it (you and Jame), so it must not have been a huge selling
AD> point. :)

ping usage used to be fairly common in Z1 but a lot of folks have left and the
knowledge has left with them as well... it is during times like this when the
knowledge and usage is resurrected... especially when it is helpful in
trracking down problems like what is being seen by the OP ;)

AD> Quite a few people in zone 2 seem to be listed with that flag, though.
AD> It seems that more of them use netmail trackers than we do though, so I
AD> could see why that would be the case.

yeah but they are also the ones that started the "netmail tracker" thing...
they aren't really necessary but they do provide some additional features for
the systems that use them...

eg: bouncing netmail addressed to systems that do not exist in the nodelist,
providing a "vacation" responder, etc...

in any case, having a mailer that can respond to ping is on the same grounds
of having a mailer/router that can add VIA lines to netmail transiting the
system... i have at least one system that drops netmail off on my main system
that doesn't place a VIA line in the netmails being delivered... it took me a
bit of research and rummaging in the logs to figure out how those netmails were
arriving... but that's another thing...

FWIW: having ping capability is a GoodThing<tm> for the benefits it
provides... especially in networks where there is no certain and specific
netmail routing structure set up ;)

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