mail not work

Malcolm Kay malcolm.kay at internode.on.net
Sat Jul 12 17:05:01 UTC 2008


On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:00 am, EdwardKing wrote:
> I use mailx command,such as Tom to Kate,I like following
> command: $mail Kate
> Subject:Hello
> Hello world
> (press Ctrl+D)
> EOT
>
> Then I use user Kate to login,and check mail,
> $mail
> No mail for Kate
>
> Why I can't receive letter? where is wrong?
>

Perhaps something to do with using uppercase in login names:
From adduser(8) man page:
     username
             Login name.  The user name is restricted to whatever pw(8) will
             accept.  Generally this means it may contain only lowercase char-
             acters or digits but cannot begin with the `-' character.  Maxi-
             mum length is 16 characters.  The reasons for this limit are his-
             torical.  Given that people have traditionally wanted to break
             this limit for aesthetic reasons, it has never been of great
             importance to break such a basic fundamental parameter in UNIX.
             You can change UT_NAMESIZE in <utmp.h> and recompile the world;
             people have done this and it works, but you will have problems
             with any precompiled programs, or source that assumes the 8-char-
             acter name limit, such as NIS.  The NIS protocol mandates an
             8-character username.  If you need a longer login name for e-mail
             addresses, you can define an alias in /etc/mail/aliases.


Malcolm Kay


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