65719 - Support for finger when composing mails [UNIX]

Status: NEW

(MailNews Core :: Composition, enhancement)

Description

[Tobias Burnus]

There should be optionally the possibility to check the entered names against
finger.

Programs like PINE and MUTT do so. I can enter 'accountname' and get 'Name
<accountname@hostname>'

This is very handy if you want to write someone within you computernetwork, but
not so usefull for home or small office.

I think a match against the accountname is enough. Note that it should be
completete against the hostname and not against the @foo.bar of [e-mail],
since it is common to use accounts like gmx.net, hotmail.com etc. and if foo
matches the localhost finger it usually wont match [e-mail]

Comment 1

[[e-mail]]

Can you describe this feature request in more detail?

I think you are saying that you want to integrate finger into email addressing. 

That is implemented via LDAP, which is very flexible and efficient.

It sounds like what you really want is for the client to use finger to check 
for an email address via the user record. I don't even know if any clients EVER 
did that. (I remember PINE had that behavior, but I also remember cutting and 
pasting from fingere output into the PINE addressbook).

In general, finger performance is pretty slow, somewhat insecure, and rarely 
used as a directory service.

Comment 2

[Tobias Burnus]

> It sounds like what you really want is for the client to use finger to check 
> for an email address via the user record. I don't even know if any clients 
> EVER did that. (I remember PINE had that behavior, but I also remember cutting
> and pasting from fingere output into the PINE addressbook).
Well what PINE does is: enter the user name (without '@') and it completes the
address (`hostname`) and uses the name from finger.

Example:
'mike[Enter]'
=>' Mike Sam <[e-mail]'

This is a nice way for inhouse mailing since it provides (a) error checking
(does the account exist?) and (b) completes with the name (which is also nice). 

It has *truely* limitations (and LDAP is much nicer), but you have frequently
NIS and no LDAP, so it is a fast and dirty methode. (It should be configuable
and by default off.)

Comment 3

[benc]

+helpwanted, the rest is up to mailnews.

Comment 4

[Sheela Ravindran]

Ninoschka,
I am not sure if this should go to you or yulian who is the ldap person. Please
reassign if needed.