[gentoo-user] Re: sendmail configuration

[Grant Edwards]

On 2020-11-26, thelma@×××××××××××.com <thelma@×××××××××××.com> wrote:

> I've always used postifx but I want to try sendmail this time.

Appropos of nothing, might we ask why? I've heard there are things
that you can do with sendmail that you can't do with postfix or exim
or qmail, but the descriptions of what sorts of "things" would require
sendmail were rarely intelligible to a mere mortal.

> And I have a hard time finding gentoo howto.

Back when we used to sendmail on SunOS in the early 90's the generally
accepted approach was to copy somebody else's config file that almost
worked, change things more or less at random and then watch the disks
fill up and the network crash. The miraculous part was that the disk
would fill up but all the mail would disappear.

I think sendmail configuration was where "cargo cult" programming
originated.

From "The Unix-Hater's Handbook"

   Sendmail: The Vietnam of Berkeley Unix

   Sendmail is the standard Unix mailer, and it is likely to remain
   the standard Unix mailer for many, many years. Although other
   mailers (such as MMDF and smail) have been written, none of them
   simultaneously enjoy sendmail’s popularity or widespread animosity.

O'Reilly's _Sendmail_ 4th Edition (the bat book), has 1312 pages and
weighs four pounds.

Head up the river if you must, but don't get out of the boat.

--
Grant