[NTLUG:Discuss] mailserver

[Christopher Browne]

On Fri, 08 Sep 2000 11:01:16 CDT, the world broke into rejoicing as
Jay Urish <j at dalwan.net>  said:
> There is only one good mail server-- sendmail.
> pine and elm are not mail servers, they are clients.
> 
> Sendmail is the easiest to set up and get going.
> Some people like qmail but with all of it's BS scripts all over the place, 
> it can be a real pain in the ass.

I've configured Sendmail, qmail, and Postfix.

While Sendmail has a daunting _overall_ set of config, if
all that need be done is to indicate the relay host, there is only
one or two lines that need be modified from default configuration,
making it pretty easy to configure.

But if local requirements get any more complex than that, the task
gets Pretty Scary Pretty Fast.

In contrast, qmail just has a few text files with quite simple information
in them to control its configuration.  But the amount of weeping and
gnashing of teeth required to get it up and running belies the apparent
simplicity.  I think you need to understand how it works underneath the
covers to really understand how it need be configured.  [In other
words, I too found it a "pain in the butt."]

Postfix has seemed to provide a reasonable third option; it seems to
keep "simple near-default configurations" easy to set up, and doing
things a tad more complicated (e.g. - local relay hosts) does not
get daunting the way it does with Sendmail.

Therein lie _my_ biases; I am certainly prepared to accept that
peoples' milage may vary...
--
cbbrowne at hex.net - <http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/linux.html>
Blood is thicker than water, and much tastier.