Re: Mail client with SMTP AUTH?

[dman <dsh8290@rit.edu>]

On Tue, Dec 04, 2001 at 10:15:31AM -0500, Nathan Weston wrote:
| Hello,
| My school just switched to a new mail server, and without warning
| began requiring SMTP authentication to send mail off campus. I've
| been using KMail which doesn't seem to support this.
| 
| At the moment I have Sylpheed installed, but it's even uglier than
| most GTK programs (dons flame suit).
| 
| Can anyone suggest a mail client which will do SMTP AUTH?

I recommend not using a mail _client_ (aka MUA) for SMTP, but rather a
mail server (aka MTA).  Most (if not all) unix mail clients have the
ability to pipe a message to the local MTA (sendmail or a
replacement).  I use exim, and the follow snippets of the
configuration allow me to use SMTP AUTH for sending mail (note: their
location in the config file is significant, but eximconfig puts lots
of comments and stubs in so you can figure it out) :

----
remote_smtp:
  driver = smtp
  authenticate_hosts = smarthost.isp.com

smarthost:
  driver = domainlist
  transport = remote_smtp
  route_list = "* osfmail.rit.edu bydns_a"

plain:
   driver = plaintext
   public_name = PLAIN
   client_send = "^yourusername^yourpassword"
----

Using this sort of setup allows you to use whatever MUA you like best
and still get quality SMTP support.  (In case you aren't familiar with
the terminology, you want to set up your machine as a "smarthost
relay".  That means you deliver mail locally, if it is destiend for a
local user, or you use some "smarthost" (a host that knows what it is
doing) as a relay for you (your school's system).)

|    (having heard lots of rave reviews about mutt and gnus)

mutt doesn't have any SMTP support at all.  Instead it allows you to
specify the "sendmail" command and pipes via your MTA.  (I use mutt +
exim on my debian box and mutt + sendmail on the school's machine, I
used to use mutt + ssmtp when I had to have a windows box)

-D

-- 

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