[Mailman-Developers] 2.1.8 documentation mismatch

[David Lee]

On Thu, 8 Jun 2006, Ian Eiloart wrote:

> --On 8 June 2006 16:54:40 +0100 David Lee <t.d.lee at durham.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 8 Jun 2006, Ian Eiloart wrote:
> >
> >> --On 8 June 2006 12:39:22 +0100 David Lee <t.d.lee at durham.ac.uk> wrote:
> >>
> >> >  The incoming email
> >> > would carry a header (of first line in body) of something like:
> >> >    Authorised:  sender-pw
> >> >
> >> > where "sender-pw" is associated with the (claimed) From-address.  This
> >> > is different from, but complementary to, "Approved: list-pw".
> >>
> >> That's neither approval nor authorisation, it's authentication - proving
> >> that the person who used the email address also knew the password
> >> associated with it. [...]
> >
> > Thanks, Ian.  I agree with that technical view.  That suggests that the
> > header (of first line of body) would need to be something like:
> >    Authenticated:  sender-pw
> >
> > To the average non-techie managerial type, what terminology (Authorised?
> > Authenticated? etc.) is preferable?
> >
>
> Not "Authenticated". That implies that authentication has already occurred.
> What you're doing is supplying a token to be used for authentication. So,
> "Authentication" would be better. Or even "Password".

I had picked on the past-tense terminology ("Authorised", "Authenticated",
etc.) simply because the FAQ talks about an "Approved" (past tense)
header.  But I believe the code also accepts (present tense) "Approve".
So I had antcipated that my proposal would be similarly tense-tolerant!

> Oh, and if it's an email header, shouldn't it be X-Authentication, or
> whatever?

Two consistency trends pulling in opposite directions!

1. RFC-ish things suggest "X-Whatever:".

2. Mailman practice (the existing "Approved") suggests "Whatever:".

I was assuming I should follow the Mailman convention.  (Whether the
Mailman convention needs revision is another matter...)


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