Re: [PATCH] mailer.py: Add Date and Message ID headers

[Daniel Shahaf <d....@daniel.shahaf.name>]

Peelman, Nick wrote on Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 13:13:28 -0500:
> Adds a Date header and a Message-ID with the revision property embedded at the end.

Why is this necessary?  Can you describe a setup in which Date or
Message-ID are not added?  (I assume usually the MTA would add them if
they're missing...?)

Re: [PATCH] mailer.py: Add Date and Message ID headers

[Ben Reser <be...@reser.org>]

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 10:15 AM, Daniel Shahaf <d....@daniel.shahaf.name> wrote:
> Peelman, Nick wrote on Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 13:13:28 -0500:
>> Adds a Date header and a Message-ID with the revision property embedded at the end.
>
> Why is this necessary?  Can you describe a setup in which Date or
> Message-ID are not added?  (I assume usually the MTA would add them if
> they're missing...?)

He's probably scoring outbound mail for spam and the lack of the
Message-ID and Date are considered spammy.

Re: [PATCH] mailer.py: Add Date and Message ID headers

[Ben Reser <be...@reser.org>]

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:13 AM, Daniel Shahaf <d....@daniel.shahaf.name> wrote:
> OK.  Fair enough.  I'm convinced that these headers should be added.

Committed in r1449592 without the revision on the Message-ID.  In the
case of lock events no revision is available.  In the case of revprop
property changes it's not unique.  Lastly for commit messages it's not
necessarily unique since multiple repositories may exist on the same
host.  So I removed it since I don't think it adds much uniqueness.

Re: [PATCH] mailer.py: Add Date and Message ID headers

[Daniel Shahaf <d....@daniel.shahaf.name>]

Peelman, Nick wrote on Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 13:59:59 -0500:
> Using both sendmail and an internal SMTP server (postfix), neither the
> date nor message ID would get inserted; that said, the foreign MTA
> would spawn a message-ID and a date. 
> 

OK.  Fair enough.  I'm convinced that these headers should be added.

THanks,

Daniel

> However:
> 
> As per RFC2822, the Date field is one of only two required fields for a valid message; relying on the MTA to inject one is not the "proper" way to go about it.
> 
> Also, SPAM filters also look for these items and consider the lack of them as signs of fraudulent messages.  This was my trigger in making the patch on our local copy of the script, as the instance of StarScan running on the foreign MTA was flagging a point and half for each missing header (at the current settings of the MTA in question, it takes 7 points for a message to be discounted).  Adding those headers creates a fully valid message and results in zero spam points.
> 
> -nick
> 
> --
> Peelman, Nick
> nick@peelman.us
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Feb 19, 2013, at 13:15, Daniel Shahaf <d....@daniel.shahaf.name> wrote:
> 
> > Peelman, Nick wrote on Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 13:13:28 -0500:
> >> Adds a Date header and a Message-ID with the revision property embedded at the end.
> > 
> > Why is this necessary?  Can you describe a setup in which Date or
> > Message-ID are not added?  (I assume usually the MTA would add them if
> > they're missing...?)
> 

Re: [PATCH] mailer.py: Add Date and Message ID headers

["Peelman, Nick" <ni...@peelman.us>]

Using both sendmail and an internal SMTP server (postfix), neither the date nor message ID would get inserted; that said, the foreign MTA would spawn a message-ID and a date. 

However:

As per RFC2822, the Date field is one of only two required fields for a valid message; relying on the MTA to inject one is not the "proper" way to go about it.

Also, SPAM filters also look for these items and consider the lack of them as signs of fraudulent messages.  This was my trigger in making the patch on our local copy of the script, as the instance of StarScan running on the foreign MTA was flagging a point and half for each missing header (at the current settings of the MTA in question, it takes 7 points for a message to be discounted).  Adding those headers creates a fully valid message and results in zero spam points.

-nick

--
Peelman, Nick
nick@peelman.us




On Feb 19, 2013, at 13:15, Daniel Shahaf <d....@daniel.shahaf.name> wrote:

> Peelman, Nick wrote on Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 13:13:28 -0500:
>> Adds a Date header and a Message-ID with the revision property embedded at the end.
> 
> Why is this necessary?  Can you describe a setup in which Date or
> Message-ID are not added?  (I assume usually the MTA would add them if
> they're missing...?)