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Re: Starting MTA:



Dale:
> 2009/9/17 K. Jantzen <k.d.jantzen@t-online.de>:
>> 
>> in the booting sequence of Debian lenny I see a line  saying
>> 
>> Starting MTA:
>> 
>> It  "takes ages" until  Debian comes up with "exim4". Thus booting takes
>> quite some time.
>> 
>> What does that mean?
>> Do I have to have that?

Exim4 is Debian's default mail transport agent ("mail server software").
You don't strictly need to run Exim4, but you most probably need /some/
form of MTA in order to satisfy package dependencies.

The problem you are experiencing probably occurs because at the time
Exim4 starts, you don't have a network connection. Exim4 then tries to
do some DNS lookups and waits for an answer (probably for 30 or 60
seconds).

>> If not, how can I get rid of it.

You can either solve Exim's problem or install some other MTA. Other
MTAs include nullmailer, ssmtp and a bunch of others. I cannot comment
on either of them.

But all you probably need to do is to run 'dpkg-reconfigure exim4' and
answer the questions to the best of your knowledge. There should be a
questions about whether Exim should "minimize DNS queries". That's
exactly what you need.

> If you just got a desktop or laptop setup you don't really need a mail
> server running. So removal is very simple all you have to do is:
> 
> apt-get remove --purge at bsd-mailx exim4 exim4-base exim4-config
> exim4-daemon-light

I don't recommend this solution since a lot of software (explicitly or
implicitly) depends on your system's ability to send mail.

J.
-- 
In an ideal world I would cure poverty and go to the gym at least three
days a week.
[Agree]   [Disagree]
                 <http://www.slowlydownward.com/NODATA/data_enter2.html>

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