Re: Question about sending local email to gmail

["Russell L. Harris" <rlharris@oplink.net>]

* Rich Bloch <richbl@gmail.com> [080117 22:42]:
>    For months, using gmail as the SMTP relay has worked. Recently,
>    however, it has been failing. A review of /var/log/exim4/mainlog
>    suggests that the email is no longer allowed to be sent directly to
>    gmail mail servers.
> 
>    My ISP is Verizon. So, I decided to try using Verizon as an SMTP host
>    (outgoing.verizon.net ). Currently, it appears to be working (with the
...
>    but I'd really like to understand why it works. Or rather, I'd like to
>    understand what the proper way to get local email sent to gmail. 
...

A "smarthost" is a SMTP server which relays mail (that is, it passes
along mail which it receives and which has originated on other systems).

Inasmuch as you do not have a direct, registered connection to the
Internet, you must relay all outgoing mail through the smarthost of
an entity which does have a direct, registered connection.

Not too many years ago, spam was not a major problem, and many SMTP
servers were configured to relay mail irrespective of the source of
the mail and without demanding authentication.

But now spam and illicit mail is a major problem, both logistically and
from the standpoint of legal liability.  Consequently, in order to
protect its SMTP server from being used as a smarthost for illicit
mail (such as spam), an ISP either requires authentication, or else
limits smarthost access to customers for whom the ISP is providing
Internet access.

Inasmuch as Verizon is providing you with Internet access, Verizon can
trace to your account all mail which originates on your machine or LAN
and which Verizon merely relays.  And if you are connected to the
gmail website and send mail from gmail, your identity can be traced
(by gmail) back to your ISP (and thus, through the logs of your ISP to
you).

You are saying that gmail no longer allows its SMTP server to be used
as a smarthost for unauthenticated users.  So, unless gmail provides a
means of authentication (which is unlikely), you must use another
smarthost which you ARE allowed to use, in order to relay mail to
gmail.  So, you now are doing precisely that which you need to be
doing.

RLH