Using Userdb To Map Full Names
The user database was not originally intended for mapping full names
to login names (e.g., Eric.Allman => eric), but some people are using
it that way. (it is recommended that you set up aliases for this
purpose instead -- since you can specify multiple alias files, this
is fairly easy.) The intent was to locate the default maildrop at
a site, but allow you to override this by sending to a specific host.
If you decide to set up the user database in this fashion, it is
imperative that you not use FEATURE(`stickyhost') -- otherwise,
e-mail sent to Full.Name@local.host.name will be rejected.
To build the internal form of the user database, use:
makemap btree /etc/mail/userdb < /etc/mail/userdb.txt
As a general rule, it is an extremely bad idea to using full names
as e-mail addresses, since they are not in any sense unique. For
example, the UNIX software-development community has at least two
well-known Peter Deutsches, and at one time Bell Labs had two
Stephen R. Bournes with offices along the same hallway. Which one
will be forced to suffer the indignity of being Stephen_R_Bourne_2?
The less famous of the two, or the one that was hired later?
Finger should handle full names (and be fuzzy). Mail should use
handles, and not be fuzzy.
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