From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1993 22:45:45 -0400
From: Neil Weisenfeld weisen@alw.nih.gov
Subject: No subject
Topicbox-Message-UUID: fd3ada7c-eac7-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025
Message-ID: <19931022024545.ACJuN8wSpOrNr8SheUN-DdCZsjhXOqcnZZsklD7fEVs@z>


In message <93Oct21.200627edt.2516@groucho.cse.psu.edu>, Scott Schwartz writes:
> 
> | not quite... upas uses the SMTP information, not the message contents,
> | as i think it should.
> 
> Well, ok, but the local postmasters tell me that the internet
> conventions are otherwise.

I don't have RFC821 in front of me, but (unless I'm confused) it
indicates that the SMTP envelope address may be different than the
sender's address (and the sender's address is where one would
presumably want a reply to go).  The example that the RFC cites is a
special mailbox where errors are to be sent could be used as the
envelope address (e.g. the mailing list administrator's address).

I think that your sysadmins are right: the UA should reply to the From: 
address stored within the message.  I think that RFC821 specifies other 
headers that can be used, too, such as Reply-To:.

Regards,
Neil