[ale] g-mail blocks tar.gz attachments, but not .zip...

[James P. Kinney III]

On Sat, 2006-02-04 at 15:11 +0000, aaron wrote:
> On Saturday 04 February 2006 17:39, Steven A. DuChene wrote:
> > Do they also block tar.bz2 attachments?
> 
> I'd have to try that...
> 
> ...didn't argue with a .tar.bz2 (file and extension).
> AND the package I just tested with contained Linux executable files.
> 
> Even bigger holes in any rationale they might offer for trapping .tar.gz??

With windows systems that have a current and default setup of winzip,  a
tar.gz file can be automatically opened and the included autorun file
executed with no AV checks. So the "no tar.gz" rule is for windows
(l)users.
> 
> peace
> aaron
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: aaron <aaron at pd.org>
> > >Sent: Feb 3, 2006 7:23 PM
> > >To: ALE <ale at ale.org>
> > >Subject: [ale] g-mail blocks  tar.gz attachments, but not .zip...
> > >
> > >I have found g-mail accounts to be a handy service for sharing, xferring 
> and 
> > >storing files in a web accessable space. The only caveat I've encountered 
> is 
> > >that google disallows certain file types as attachments on both incoming or 
> > >outgoing g-mail.
> > >
> > >I fully understand why they would want to protect the Micro$hafted maroons 
> of 
> > >the world from their own ignorance by blocking ".exe" attachments.  What I 
> > >don't understand why they also choose to block ".tar.gz"  files, and yet 
> > >allow ".zip" attachments without question.
> > >
> > >Googl's reply to my query of this policy (exchange below) did nothing but 
> > >re-state the obvious by notifying me that they block ".exe" and ".tar.gz" 
> > >attachments.  (Yes. I already know that. My question was WHY do you block 
> > >".tar.gz"?)
> > >
> > >I've found workarounds and can easily attach any file to my g-mails, but  
> > >I'm wondering if anyone here can enlighten me with a good reason for 
> googl's 
> > >".tar.gz" policy.  I thought tar and gz were passive archiving formats.
> > >
> > >peace
> > >aaron
> > >
> > >
> > >=========================================
> > From: "Gmail Team" <gmail-support at google.com>
> > >To: arxaaron at gmail.com
> > >
> > >Hello,
> > >Thank you for your message.
> > >
> > >As a security measure to prevent the spread of potential viruses, Gmail
> > >users can't send or receive tar.gz files (ending in '.tar.gz') or
> > >executable files. Please note that a file can be executable even if it
> > >does not have '.exe' as an extension.
> > >
> > >Gmail does not accept tar.gz or executable files, even if they are sent in
> > >a zipped format. If someone tries to send this type of message to your
> > >Gmail account, the message will be bounced back to the sender.
> > >
> > >Sincerely,
> > >The Gmail Team
> > >
> > >------------------------
> > >Original Message Follows:
> > >
> > From: arxaaron at gmail.com
> > >Subject: zip vs tar.gz
> > >  [snip]
> > >
> > >Why do you reject tar.gz archives? If there's a reason, why doesn't it
> > >apply equally to .zip archives?
> > >
> > >===============================================
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >Ale mailing list
> > >Ale at ale.org
> > >http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> > 
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
-- 
James P. Kinney III          \Changing the mobile computing world/
CEO & Director of Engineering \          one Linux user         /
Local Net Solutions,LLC        \           at a time.          /
770-493-8244                    \.___________________________./
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
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