Subject: Limitation on Distribution List

From: Martin Morrison <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 21:37:06 -0800 (PST)

I am using Pine on Netcom.  I have discovered that when I get a 
distribution list of over about 50 names, I get a shell bus error from 
Netcom.  I have had to break the list into two pieces and send the 
message two individual times.

Is there any way around this restriction so that I have to send the 
message only once?

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From: [email-masked] (Rex Wockner)
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 23:08:43 GMT

Martin Morrison ([email-masked]) wrote:
: I am using Pine on Netcom.  I have discovered that when I get a 
: distribution list of over about 50 names, I get a shell bus error from 
: Netcom.  I have had to break the list into two pieces and send the 
: message two individual times.

: Is there any way around this restriction so that I have to send the 
: message only once?

The problem started on March 3. I have e-mailed netcom repeatedly but 
they just ignore me. I called them and was told they are weeks behind in 
reading e-mail from subscribers. Pine on netcom creates this error with 
anything more than 24 addresses. It was not like this until March 3. 
Please e-mail netcom over and over until they respond to this problem. 
The addresses are:

[email-masked]
[email-masked]
[email-masked]
[email-masked]
-- 
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Rex Wockner - A Chicagoan in San Diego - A news reporter
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Life is short. Have an adventure today.
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From: [email-masked]
Date: 13 Mar 1995 02:10:36 GMT

>>>>> "M" == Martin Morrison <[email-masked]> writes:

    M> I am using Pine on Netcom.  I have discovered that when I get a
    M> distribution list of over about 50 names, I get a shell bus
    M> error from Netcom.  I have had to break the list into two
    M> pieces and send the message two individual times.

    M> Is there any way around this restriction so that I have to send
    M> the message only once?

If netcom has another user agent available (such as ELM), check and
see if you get the same error with that software.  If so, the problem
isn't related to pine, but to other factors on the system.  At that
point, you need to talk to your system administrator.

On the other hand, if the other user agent is successful at sending
messages through that large of a distribution list then you're
probably better off using that mailer for the infrequent (at least I
hope it's infrequent) times you need to send to that large of a
distribution list.  It's probably not worth the effort to fix, unless
that fix simply involves updating the software to the latest version.

  === Al

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From: [email-masked] (Doug Brenner)
Date: 12 Mar 95 21:38:00

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked]

> anything more than 24 addresses. It was not like this until March 3. 

This may be the same problem we had here when the new version of sendmail was
installed.  Sendmail 8.6.10 on our AIX 3.2.5 machine caused what sounds like
the same problem with Pine 3.91.

The workaround was for Pine users to set their smtp-server variable to one of
our local SMTP hosts.  You could do the same using an appropriate Netcom
host.  (Sorry, but I can't suggest one.)

The solution was in the sendmail source code.  We removed the code in util.c
that generated the POSSIBLE ATTACK messages and fixed two problems: the Pine
distribution list limitation and the bogus log messages.

> Please e-mail netcom over and over until they respond to this problem. 

I can certainly understand your being frustrated with the situation, but I'm
not certain I would suggest mail bombing as helpful.  Just my 2 cents.

Good luck.  -dcb

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From: [email-masked] (Barry Bouwsma)
Date: 13 Mar 1995 06:31:47 GMT

In comp.mail.pine, [email-masked] (Doug Brenner) says:

[about the problem of being unable to send to a large list from Netcom:]

>distribution list limitation and the bogus log messages.

    You may also consider upgrading (again) to BSD sendmail 8.6.11, which
was released a few days ago and corrects these POSSIBLE ATTACK messages.
I don't remember whether the official fix solves the problem with lists,
or whether this is even mentioned in the release info, but if what you did
worked for you, I would imagine the official release is the same.

    Just to make it clear, this problem is NOT a problem with Pine, but
rests with the mail transport agent (sendmail).  You won't get results by
posting in comp.mail.pine about it, but you might get results by asking
your SysAdmin to quickly upgrade from sendmail 8.6.10.

    If anybody wishes to ask whether sendmail 8.6.11 does indeed solve
the problem with large (more than 20 or 30) lists of recipients in mail
from Pine, the place to ask is comp.mail.sendmail.

-- 
 Barry Bouwsma, will crash computers for chocolate and dental care
    Please direct mail to  <[email-masked]> (MIME-aware)

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