NWG/RFC 751 PDL 10 Dec 78 nnnnn
Network Working Group P. David Lebling
Request for Comments: 751 (PDL@MIT-DMS)
NIC: nnnnn 10 December 1978
SURVEY OF FTP MAIL AND MLFL
- Two surveys of Arpanet Server hosts were run between September 20, 1978
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- and December 11, 1978. The intent was to determine the response of the
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- host's Server FTP program to:
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- (a) An attempt to mail to an unknown recipient at that host. The
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- purpose of this survey was two-fold. First, to determine whether the
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- host accepts mail for unknown recipients at all, and second, what
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- response the host gives if it does not accept such mail.
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- (b) An attempt to mail to a known recipient using the MLFL command
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- rather than the usual MAIL command. This survey was undertaken to
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- determine the extent of support for the MLFL command among Server hosts,
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- and the sort of reply received if the Server does not support MLFL. MLFL
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- is potentially a 'better' form of communication than mail as the message
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- is sent over a data connection rather than the command connection.
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- Using the data connection eliminates the 'end-of-mail' marker and
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- 'command reader' problems sometimes encountered over the command
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- connection.
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- The ground rules of the survey were that all sites listed as Servers in
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- the MIT/SAIL Host table were surveyed. In many cases, a host listed as
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- a Server would not respond to an ICP at any time during the period of
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- the survey. Once a host responded with what seemed to me to be a
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- 'definitive' answer, I marked it as such and stopped surveying it.
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MLFL Survey
- The algorithm used was to ICP to socket 3 of the server (the standard
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- old-FTP socket). Once a 300 response was received, I sent the MLFL
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- command. Where I had the name of a real mailbox at a site (a
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- Header-person, for example) I used that, otherwise the name "**". If a
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- site asked for a password (response 504) after the MLFL command I gave
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- "USER NETML" "PASS NETML" and retried the MLFL. If the server replied
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- with a 255 SOCK command, I listened for the data-connection to be
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- established. When it was, I transferred the mail file. Interestingly
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- enough, most sites implement an RFC queueing algorithm that will allow
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- the user site to attempt to establish the data-connection from its end.
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- NWG/RFC 751 PDL 10 Dec 78 nnnnn
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- Survey of FTP MAIL and MLFL
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- Complete FTP scripts may be found, if you are interested, on MIT-DM,
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- file NETDOC;MLFL SURVEY.
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- Sites are grouped by the general result they gave.
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- -site- -last ftp reply if lost- -when-
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- 1) Sites that lost for various reasons:
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- BNL 530 NOT LOGGED IN. after MLFL
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- HARV-10 431 INVALID ENTRY - Try again after USER
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- LLL-MFE 454 Login please after SOCK
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- LONDON 000 INDRA FTP Version 2.00 ... after ICP
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- NBS-10 454 Login please after SOCK
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- WHARTON 454 DATA Connection error ... after SOCK
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- WPAFB-AFAL 454 Login please after SOCK
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- Note: "when" describes the last action performed by the surveyer before
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- the indicated anomalous response.
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after ICP -- surveyer had done ICP to socket 3
after MLFL -- surveyer had sent MLFL command
after USER -- surveyer had sent USER NETML in response to
"504 Login please"
after SOCK -- surveyer had attempted to connect to specified
data socket
- 2) Sites that don't support MLFL and say so:
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- AFWL 501 ML<?>FL **
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- CCA-SPEECH 501 ML<?>FL **
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- EGLIN 501 ML<?>FL **
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- LBL 506 Command not implemented.
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- LONDON-VDH 500 Command unrecognized
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- UCLA-CCN 500 COMMAND UNRECOGNIZED
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- WPAFB 501 ML<?>FL **
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- 3) Sites that support MLFL (or at least go through all the right
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- motions):
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- AMES-67 MIT-AI SRI-KL
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- BBN-TENEX MIT-DMS SU-AI
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- BBN-TENEXA MIT-MC SUMEX-AIM
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- BBN-TENEXD MIT-ML UCLA-ATS
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- BBN-TENEXE MIT-XX UCLA-SECURITY
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- BBN-UNIX NBS-UNIX USC-ECL
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- CCA-TENEX OFFICE-1 USC-ISI
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- CMU-10A PARC-MAXC USC-ISIB
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- CMU-10B PARC-MAXC2 USC-ISIC
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- NWG/RFC 751 PDL 10 Dec 78 nnnnn
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- Survey of FTP MAIL and MLFL
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- DEC-MARLBORO RADC-TOPS20 USC-ISIE
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- I4-TENEX RAND-RCC UTEXAS
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- ILL-UNIX RAND-UNIX
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- LL RUTGERS
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- LL-ASG SRI-KA
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- 4) Sites that support MLFL but require "USER NETML" "PASS NETML"
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- (Multics):
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- MIT-MULTICS
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- RADC-MULTICS
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- 5) Others:
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- a) Sites that might support it if I could mail to a real user (some of
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- these run operating systems that are "known to work", e.g. TENEX):
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- BBN-TENEXB 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- CCA-SDMS 450 User Unknown
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- CCTC 451 User Not Recognized
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- CMU-10D 507 USER NOT FOUND: **
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- DTI 451 User Not Recognized
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- LL-11 450 User Unknown
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- LL-XN 450 User Unknown
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- NCSC 451 User Not Recognized
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- NOSC-CC 451 User Not Recognized
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- NOSC-SDL 451 User Not Recognized
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- NTIA-ITS 451 User Not Recognized
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- OFFICE-2 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- RADC-XPER 451 User Not Recognized
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- SDAC-44 431 User name invalid
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- SDAC-UNIX 451 User Not Recognized
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- SRI-UNIX 451 User Not Recognized
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- b) Sites that either never responded to an ICP to socket 3, or were not
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- accepting FTP users:
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- ANL I4B-TENEX NOSC-SECURE1
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- ARPA-DMS ISI-SPEECH11 NSWC-WO
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- CMU-CMMP LBL-UNIX NUSC
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- CTO-DDS LLL-COMP NUSC-NPT
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- DTNSRDC MOFFET-ARC NWC
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- FNWC NADC NYU
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- GUNTER-UNIX NDRE PENT-UNIX
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- NWG/RFC 751 PDL 10 Dec 78 nnnnn
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- Survey of FTP MAIL and MLFL
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MAIL Survey
- The mechanics of the MAIL survey were similar to those of the MLFL
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- survey. The command was "MAIL Fzorkness" (an account unlikely to exist
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- on any host). The responses are grouped into a few general categories.
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- Complete FTP results may be found on MIT-DM, file NETDOC;MAIL SURVEY.
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- -site- -last response-
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- 1) Sites that lost completely.
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- LONDON 000 INDRA FTP Version <>.00 ...
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- 2) Sites that accept mail to an unknown recipient.
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- BNL MIT-ML USC-ISI
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- MIT-AI RAND-RCC USC-ISIB
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- MIT-DMS UCLA-CCN USC-ISIC
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- MIT-MC USC-ECL USC-ISIE
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- 3) Sites that refuse mail to an unknown recipient (grouped by response).
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- SDAC-44 431 User name invalid
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- BBN-TENEX 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- BBN-TENEXA 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- BBN-TENEXB 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- BBN-TENEXD 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- BBN-TENEXE 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- BBN-UNIX 450 User Unknown
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- CCA-SDMS 450 User Unknown
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- CCTC 451 User Unknown
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- EDN-UNIX 450 User Unknown
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- I4-TENEX 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- ILL-UNIX 450 User unknown
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- LL 450 No such mailbox at LL
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- LL-ASG 450 User unknown
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- LL-XN 450 User unknown
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- MIT-MULTICS 450 Cannot locate mailbox for \Fzorkness\
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- MIT-XX 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- NBS-UNIX 450 User Unknown
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- NCSC 450 User Unknown
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- NOSC-CC 450 User Unknown
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- NOSC-SDL 450 User Unknown
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- NTIA-ITS 450 User Unknown
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- OFFICE-1 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- OFFICE-2 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- PARC-MAXC 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- NWG/RFC 751 PDL 10 Dec 78 nnnnn
-
- Survey of FTP MAIL and MLFL
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- PARC-MAXC2 450 No such mailbox at this site.
-
- RADC-XPER 450 User Unknown
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- RADC-MULTICS 450 Cannot locate mailbox for \Fzorkness\
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- RADC-TOPS20 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- RAND-UNIX 450 User Unknown
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- RUTGERS 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- SDAC-UNIX 450 User Unknown
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- SRI-KA 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- SRI-KL 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- SU-AI 450 I don't know anybody named Fzorkness
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- SUMEX-AIM 450 No such mailbox at this site.
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- UCLA-ATS 450 User Unknown
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- UCLA-SECURITY 450 User Unknown
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- UTEXAS 450 User Unknown
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- CCA-TENEX 451 No such mailbox at this site.
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- AFWL 501 MA<?>IL Fzorkness
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- CCA-SPEECH 501 MA<?>IL Fzorkness
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- EGLIN 501 MA<?>IL Fzorkness
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- WPAFB 501 MA<?>IL Fzorkness
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- AMES-67 503 COMMAND \MAIL FZORKNESS\ IGNORED: UNKNOWN USER
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- LBL 506 Command not implemented.
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- CMU-10A 507 % USER NOT FOUND: FZORKNESS
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- CMU-10B 507 % USER NOT FOUND: FZORKNESS
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- CMU-10D 507 % USER NOT FOUND: FZORKNESS
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- HARV-10 507 No such user as FZORKNESS
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- LLL-MFE 507 No such user as FZORKNESS
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- NBS-10 507 No such user as FZORKNESS
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- WHARTON 507 No such user as FZORKN
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- WPAFB-AFAL 507 No such user as FZORKNESS
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- 4) Sites to which I was never able to connect, or which were not
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- accepting users.
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- ANL I4B-TENEX NOSC-SECURE1
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- ARPA-DMS ISI-SPEECH11 NSWC-WO
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- CMU-CMMP LBL-UNIX NUSC
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- CTO-DDS LL-11 NUSC-NPT
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- DEC-MARLBORO LLL-COMP NWC
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- DTI LONDON-VDH NYU
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- DTNSRDC MOFFETT-ARC SRI-UNIX
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- FNWC NADC SU-ISL
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- GUNTER-UNIX NDRE
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