Re: [desktop] Installation of mail server by default
On Sat, Mar 15, 2003 at 10:06:39AM +0000, Matthew Forrester wrote:
> I always thought the installation of EXIM by default was rather strange,
> If you want a mail server your almost certainly going to want a specific
> mail server, and after all your only going to want one per network. A
> sensible Idea would be to have nullmailer installed. none of my debian
> using friends knew about nullmailer, but were well chuffed when i told
> them about it, as they could get rid of the mta on there workstations
> (which serves no other purpose except a potential security problem, use
> of hdd space and stopping apt complaining about not having an mta).
Although it is not immediately useful to the end user, a local SMTP
server is used internally by many applications. Not the least of which
is debconf, which happily mails the system administrator information
that may or may not be displayed in installation and upgrade scripts.
Cron jobs also occasionally send messages to the admin as well.
Additionally, classic MTAs like mutt and PINE and whatever else use the
local MTA to deliver mail. EXIM has yet to provide me with any security
concerns. The conf tool eximconfig is very good at providing you with a
working and stable installation. Additionally the user can select the
fifth option which disables Exim by leaving it unconfigured. I wouldn't
recommend this, the fourth option is local machine delivery only and is
presumably safer to use. Now if only I had the time and skills to
convert eximconfig to debconf... ;-)
Upon reviewing nullmailer, I would hazard a guess that the Smart Relay
options available in option 2 or 3 of eximconfig would be just as
sufficient, and possibly easier to configure. However nullmailer appears
to be designed for large sets of installations, and could be easier to
use for clusters, campus sites, or large offices.
just my 2 cents worth
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Matthew P. McGuire <gray@shadowglade.net> 1024D/E21C0E88
CB82 7859 26B2 95E3 1328 5198 D57A D072 E21C 0E88
When choice matters, choose Debian.
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