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On 2010-04-19, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@×××××.com> wrote: |
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> On Monday 19 April 2010 16:49:34 Grant Edwards wrote: |
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>> On 2010-04-19, Tanstaafl <tanstaafl@×××××××××××.org> wrote: |
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>> > On 2010-04-18 6:27 PM, Peter Humphrey wrote: |
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>> >> On Sunday 18 April 2010 22:06:44 Mick wrote: |
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>> >>> I was reminded that I do not understand sendmail enough for my liking. |
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>> >> |
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>> >> Does anybody? |
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>> > |
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>> ><flame-protect> |
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>> > |
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>> > That's why Wietse invented postfix. |
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>> > |
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>> ></flame-protect> |
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>> |
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>> I gave up on sendmail about 12 years ago and switched to qmail and/or |
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>> postfix. I didn't know anybody was still using sendmail. Is it the |
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>> default MTA for any of the popular Linux distros? |
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> |
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> Yes. Centos/RedHat et al. The installer has a screen to let you |
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> choose, but if you click-click-click-Yes through it like most |
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> numbnuts will, sendmail is what you get. |
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|
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And yet the "geekier" distros like Debian and Gentoo gave up on |
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sendmail years ago. You can install sendmail in either, but people |
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don't seem to. |
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|
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> How do I know this? Because I fought valiantly with one of them |
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> today. |
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> |
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> I took me 90 minutes to figure out how to add a SmartHost. Vogon |
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> poetry is a delight compared to those damn .cf files. And the .mc's |
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> aren't much better. |
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There's a reason why the chapter on Mail in the Unix Hater's Handbook |
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has the quote: |
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Not having sendmail is like not having VD. |
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Ron Heiby |
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Former moderator, comp.newprod |
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|
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The UHH "Mail" chapter is mostly about sendmail: |
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Sendmail was built while the Internet mail handling systems were in |
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flux. As a result, it had to be programmable so that it could |
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handle any possible changes in the standards. Delve into the |
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mysteries of sendmail's unreadable sendmail.cf files and |
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you'll discover ways of rewiring sendmail's insides so that |
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@#$@$^%<<<@#) at @$%#^! is a valid e-mail address. That was great |
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in 1985. In 1994, the Internet mail standards have been decided |
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upon and such flexibility is no longer needed. Nevertheless, all of |
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sendmail's rope is still there, ready to make a hangman's knot, |
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should anyone have a sudden urge. |
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I particularly like the list of reasons why the Sendmail book has a |
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bat on the cover: |
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* The common North American brown bat's diet is composed principally |
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of bugs. Sendmail is a software package which is composed |
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principally of bugs. |
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|
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* Sendmail and bats both suck. |
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* Sendmail maintainers and bats both tend to be nocturnal creatures, |
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making "eep eep" noises which are incomprehensible to the average |
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person. |
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* Have you ever watched a bat fly? Have you ever watched Sendmail |
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process a queue full of undelivered mail? QED. |
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* Sendmail and bats both die quickly when kept in captivity. |
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* Bat guano is a good source of potassium nitrate, a principal |
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ingredient in things that blow up in your face. Like Sendmail. |
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* Both bats and sendmail are held in low esteem by the general |
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public. |
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* Bats require magical rituals involving crosses and garlic to get |
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them to do what you want. Sendmail likewise requires mystical |
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incantations such as: |
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|
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R<$+>$*$=Y$~A$* $:<$1>$2$3?$4$5 Mark user portion. |
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R<$+>$*!$+,$*?$+ <$1>$2!$3!$4?$5 is inferior to @ |
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R<$+>$+,$*?$+ <$1>$2:$3?$4 Change src rte to % path |
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R<$+>:$+ <$1>,$2 Change % to @ for immed. domain |
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R<$=X$-.UUCP>!?$+ $@<$1$2.UUCP>!$3 Return UUCP |
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R<$=X$->!?$+ $@<$1$2>!$3 Return unqualified |
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R<$+>$+?$+ <$1>$2$3 Remove '?' |
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R<$+.$+>$=Y$+ $@<$1.$2>,$4 Change do user@domain |
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* Farmers consider bats their friends because of the insects they |
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eat. Farmers consider Sendmail their friend because it gets more |
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collegeeducated people interested in subsistence farming as a |
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career. |
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Note that this was written in the early 1990s. Sendmail has been |
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considered archaic and overly complex for almost 20 years. |
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-- |
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Grant Edwards grant.b.edwards Yow! My mind is making |
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at ashtrays in Dayton ... |
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gmail.com |
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