On 12/24/2025 12:48 PM, Marvin Renich via Postfix-users wrote: > * Wietse Venema via Postfix-users <[email protected]> [251224 10:04]: > I think what the OP is saying is that when sendmail auto-generates a > "From:" header, it is getting the email portion from the -f > envelope.from, but the full name from the current user. I think he is > saying that an auto-generated "From:" header (in absence of -F) should > either use both the full name and email from the current user or > (preferably) use both the full name and email based on the envelope.from > address. > > If the primary use of -f was for specifying a non-root user of the host > where sendmail is being invoked when being invoked by root, I would > agree with the OP. But in my experience, the primary use is to specify > an email that is related to the current user, but not directly related > to anything specific to the current host. > > The fact that -f specifies an email (perhaps not associated with the > current host) as opposed to a host user is a clear indication that the > current implementation is correct.
I suppose if the caller specifies "-f otheruser@otherhost" (is that allowed?) then there is no way for sendmail to determine the display name. In that case it should probably be blank or "<unknown>". In my case I am specifying "-f otheruser" and otheruser is an account on the current host. I didn't think this was uncommon. In my use case I have a PHP script that runs as "www-data" and I want the header to specify a different user on the same host that can actually receive email replies. I have been running this script for the last 11 years using the original sendmail and it has worked without issue. Recently I switched over to postfix and my script broke. The postfix implementation violates the principle of least surprise and it breaks compatibility with the original sendmail implementation. I doubt this was a conscious decision by the postfix developers. More likely this was merely overlooked and should be fixed. _______________________________________________ Postfix-users mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
