[CentOS] Ultra simple mail server config?

Tue Jan 23 22:07:37 UTC 2007
John Summerfield <debian at herakles.homelinux.org>

Brent wrote:
> Plain FUD Qmailrocks works just fine. Only a complete Newbie can't install

Hmm, I note that while Qmailrocks points to the source of qmail, the 
qmail pages recommends lifewithqmail but does not mention qmailrocks.

> it.  The instructions are the easiest I ever seen for a  complete mail
> server. You need to have the right libaries for it to work but really that
> is basic stuff.
> 
> I've installed about tons of installs of it and never had a problem.

You may never have perceived a problem, but that's not the same as not 
having a problem.


I note that qmail is not free software as defined by the FSF. I cannot 
even ungzip the tarball and bzip2 it without Dan (the author's approval) 
so as to save space when I distribute it. See 
http://cr.yp.to/qmail/dist.html



If you don't want to build from source you should be using a different 
package.

I have heard Bad Thing in the past about qmail, so googled for "the 
problem with qmail." Some hits, not a lot. This is rather old, and the 
author's fond of postfix (as am I) (but he was expert in qmail):
It speaks of licence, the author's attitude, problemss working with 
other software such as smartlist.
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/1999/06/msg02053.html

This is more recent:
 > The problem with qmail is that you need either a big patchset or
 > a once patched setup and reuse that. Plus qmail really has
 > some not-so-nice bugs.
http://www.mail-archive.com/swinog@lists.swinog.ch/msg01601.html


Oh, shhh sugar! This was written for RHL 6.x. I says,
"PROCESS

1. download qmail 1.03 (or latest - but it hasn't changed in a *long* 
time):"
http://jason.mindsocket.com.au/articles/qmail/setup-README

He's right. 1.03 is the latest listed at http://cr.yp.to/qmail/dist.html 
and http://cr.yp.to/qmail.html
Version 1.0, the first general release, was announced on February, 20, 
1997. The current version, 1.03, was released on June, 15, 1998.
http://www.lifewithqmail.com/lwq.html#history


It looks to me that qmail is high-maintenance; www.qmail.org is one site 
that attempts to make it usable, but if DJB ever releases a newer 
version then what to do with all those patches?

It's like mixing and matching kernel patches.

I don't see any patches to fix security problems, but I am not prepared 
to believe there are no security problems. There are patches to fix 
standards non-compliance (eg RFC 1870 and RFC 2821) and nobody can 
distribute source with them preapplied. Instead, they must distribute 
patch alone or source-plus-patch.



> 
> 
> 
> 
>>The qmailrocks setup leaves you with broken qmail.  Ask on the qmail
>>list if you
>>really want to know the gory details.
>>
>>If you're really interested in running qmail properly, I'd highly
>>recommend following
>>www.lifewithqmail.org or Matt Simpson's qmail-toaster scripts.
>>
>>Peter
>>
>>Brent wrote:
>>
>>>Although not to most simple  to install I thought I would add another
>>>one
>>>to the mix qmailrocks is a great how to. Once it is setup it is a super
>>>easy server to maintain.
>>>
>>>the site is www.qmailrocks.com
>>>
>>>The one below looks like a great one too.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Dave wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Hello,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>><SNIP>
>>>>
>>>>>Does such a HOW-TO exist?
>>>>>
>>>>>If not, and there are experts here willing to help
>>>>>out, I would be happy to write up my experience.
>>>>>
>>>>>Thank you for reading,
>>>>>David
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>	Try Johnny's Postfix w/dovecot install guides @
>>>>http://www.hughesjr.com/content/category/4/15/29/.
>>>>
>>>>Best Regards,
>>>>Camron
>>>>
>>>>Camron W. Fox
>>>>Hilo Office
>>>>High Performance Computing Group
>>>>Fujitsu America, INC.
>>>>E-mail:		cwfox at us.fujitsu.com
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>--
>>Peter Serwe <peter at infostreet dot com>
>>
>>http://www.infostreet.com
>>
>>"The only true sports are bullfighting, mountain climbing and auto
>>racing." -Earnest Hemingway
>>
>>"Because everything else requires only one ball." -Unknown
>>
>>"Do you wanna go fast or suck?" -Mike Kojima
>>
>>"There are two things no man will admit he cannot do well: drive and make
>>love." -Sir Stirling Moss
>>
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-- 

Cheers
John

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