I’ve always relied on my mail servers having a complete and correct /etc/aliases file with all the necessary aliases. I never even thought about who puts them there and why. It was just one of those many things that just work. Today I discovered that there is actually an RFC 2142, which describes standard mailbox names for common services, roles, and functions. Here is the abstract:
This specification enumerates and describes Internet mail addresses (mailbox name @ host reference) to be used when contacting personnel at an organization. Mailbox names are provided for both operations and business functions. Additional mailbox names and aliases are not prohibited, but organizations which support email exchanges with the Internet are encouraged to support AT LEAST each mailbox name for which the associated function exists within the organization.