Le 27/09/2010 04:30, Miles Fidelman a écrit :
<lost track of who said this>
Postfix is a Mail TRANSFER Agent; it is not a Mail STORAGE Agent.
Think of
it like a bricks and mortar post office and mail. If mail is
undeliverable,
it is returned to the return address. Once returned, the post
office is done
with it; the post office does not archive a copy.
<snip>
If the mail cannot be returned to the return address, it is for all
practical purposes discarded.
To be just a bit nitpicky, this isn't quite true. If the post office
can't deliver something, and can't return it, it ends up in the "dead
letter office" (now called a "mail recovery center") - where a human
being tries to do something intelligent with it (e.g., open a damaged
package and try to find a useful address),
nitpickmetoo. That concept is stupid. I am much more attached to privacy
than to reliability. if "they can't deliver" and "can't return", there's
nothing reasonable and acceptable to do than destroying it. Holding the
letter for too long is not part of the contract. data is vulnerable
during transport. holding mail for too long increases its exposure...
and failing that, they hold onto it for a while, auction off contents,
etc. There's a good article, with some interesting links, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_letter_office
Now, having said that, I'm not sure what they do with "dead spam."
