Re: Bug#155576: To hack or not to hack
On Thu, Aug 08, 2002 at 09:53:32AM +1000, Brian May wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 07, 2002 at 07:34:32PM -0400, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> > Clearly, a network solution has advantages (for example, if you want to send
> > the message to a faster machine for scanning a high volume of mail), but for
> > a simple one-machine configuration it is less preferable in my opinion.
> >
> > Maybe the rationale for SMTP is that it is supported by all MTAs. But in
>
> The rationale, IMHO is:
>
> - easier to maintain for up-to-date MTAs.
>
> - no need for MTA to execute seperate program that pipes data to
> amavisd and receives result.
>
> - faster performance as a result of the above.
>
> - distributed setup.
The major one I remember is the better error handling. Most MTAs arn't as
careful or watchful of stuff thrown to a pipe. Where using SMTP allows for
well-tested error handling, on top of rejecting messages with reason.
"550 Spam, bugger off" looks better in a log than just having it disapear
into the scanner. Or "550 Virus: Klez.H, shoo"
I'm using Exim 3 with amavis right now to do that. It's using the pipe
transport for return messages, because exim3 doesn't quite handle the full
SMTP setup. Exim gracefully hold onto messages while amavis is down, so I'm
happy. It's only been a problem once.
- Nick Lopez
kimo_sabe@atdot.org
--
dde, ole, ole2, com, dcom, dcom+mts, SOAP, .NET
or : Everything is a file, hmm tough choice.
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