[Feb 05, 97 - 09:41] Andrew Clarke of 1:106/2000 wrote to Mike Christian:

>> Please forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is a _bangpath_? Is
>> that an internet address?

AC> Not sure.  Code to handle Internet UUCP gateways was written a
AC> few years ago, long before Paul or myself took over Msged
AC> distribution.  I don't even know if any of the UUCP stuff works;
AC> I don't use it.

A bangpath is an explicit route of a type used back in the days when UNIX
mail moved much the way Fidonet mail does now: store and forward over
serial connections.  Unlike Fidonet technology, which leaves routing
decisions up to each node in between the origin and the destination, uucp
allowed the originator to specify intermediate hops.  An address like

    harry{at}stable!barnyard!farmhouse!gluefactory

actually tells you which nodes would handle the message.  (There were
automated procedures that let you leave out some of the hops, which would
be filled in by intermediate nodes in case barnyard and farmhouse didn't
directly connect - or so I recall.)

These days nobody uses bangpath addressing explicitly on the Internet,
although there is a way of constructing an address to specify a
"via" if you need to.

Jerry Schwartz
@EOT:

--- Msged/386 4.00