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  3. Why is setting up an SMTP server on a Linux distro so...in(s)ane?

Why is setting up an SMTP server on a Linux distro so...in(s)ane?

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  • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

    It's because most Linux software is created by a loose association of many different people in their spare time. Ever hear the old joke, a camel is just a horse that was designed by a committee.

    The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

    L Offline
    L Offline
    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    Quite the joke, since a camel is a horse with more endurance. The lump is also great on BBQ. Camels > horses. It wasn't designed by politics, and it still competes with the top 1 commercial package called Windows, without similar funding. All I need runs under Linux, including all my games. Even C# there, with some differences your R&D may pay for itself. The only thing that makes sure it won't work is Visual Studio.

    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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    • D DrWalter PE

      It's that way, so you can claim to be a guru once you get it working. BTW, I got one sert up on linux 0.98 wat back when. You should have tried it without the interwebs to search for documentation. It was painful.

      L Offline
      L Offline
      Lost User
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      DrWalter PE wrote:

      It's that way, so you can claim to be a guru once you get it working.

      I don't see the problem? Raspberri Pi's don't work on VB6.

      Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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      • L Lost User

        Quite the joke, since a camel is a horse with more endurance. The lump is also great on BBQ. Camels > horses. It wasn't designed by politics, and it still competes with the top 1 commercial package called Windows, without similar funding. All I need runs under Linux, including all my games. Even C# there, with some differences your R&D may pay for itself. The only thing that makes sure it won't work is Visual Studio.

        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

        T Offline
        T Offline
        trønderen
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        Eddy Vluggen wrote:

        it still competes with the top 1 commercial package called Windows, without similar funding

        When the 'idealistic' aspects of Linux need to be stressed, it is 'without similar funding'. If the professional quality of Linux components need to be stressed, there are thousands of highly qualified developers working in companies with extremely high quality standards that contributes to the common good. There is a lot of truth to the second point (except that lots of Linux software made during working hours may be a few notches below 'extremely high quality standards). Funding rarely is any problem for the great majority of Linux software. Thousands of companies let their employees spend part (or all) of their working time doing the development. I have myself worked on a handful of projects where the bosses knew the marketing value of "our software is free and open, and we welcome external contributions": If "open software" had not been included in the project description, we would have had a lot more difficulty raising our project on the internal funding scale - even when we couldn't possibly imagine who would care for the code we developed.

        L 1 Reply Last reply
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        • L Lost User

          Hahaha :D Nice :D Did you notice how many machines run on it? You prolly have those at home :D It sounds like the "F*ck M$" from the '90's.

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

          T Offline
          T Offline
          trønderen
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          Eddy Vluggen wrote:

          Did you notice how many machines run on it? You prolly have those at home

          The thing is: I don't see the Linux. At the developer level, the fight between Windows and Linux has been on several battlegrounds, such as Command Line Interface vs. GUI. I see no CLI in Android. It has been 42 different file systems vs. NTFS. None of the "anonymous" Linux devices I encounter let me choose the file system I consider the best; actually, I do not see the file system at all. The 'elegance' of the fork() concept, and great value of a process having its own isolated address space. That you can edit the configuration file of any application using a 7-bit ASCII editor. The 'elegance' of creating a file to act as a semaphore. The 'obvious' thing that "MyFile" and "Myfile" are two distinct files, and "My File" of course can't be used as a name because it would break the great majority of tools ... I do not see any of the promoted 'qualities' of Linux (or *nix in general) in any of those anonymous Linux devices. If another OS had been playing in the background, I wouldn't know. Someone might give me a new smartphone (I need it; the glass is broken on my six year old one) with the same apps, same icons etc. as my old one, and if done properly, I wouldn't have been able to detect that the underlaying OS was Windows. Not until I checked the System information, or was told that I would have to download apps from MS Store. Noting in the ordinary user interface would have told. So Linux is there, but you won't notice it. You have to read it somewhere else, or be told by an evangelist.

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          • T trønderen

            Eddy Vluggen wrote:

            Did you notice how many machines run on it? You prolly have those at home

            The thing is: I don't see the Linux. At the developer level, the fight between Windows and Linux has been on several battlegrounds, such as Command Line Interface vs. GUI. I see no CLI in Android. It has been 42 different file systems vs. NTFS. None of the "anonymous" Linux devices I encounter let me choose the file system I consider the best; actually, I do not see the file system at all. The 'elegance' of the fork() concept, and great value of a process having its own isolated address space. That you can edit the configuration file of any application using a 7-bit ASCII editor. The 'elegance' of creating a file to act as a semaphore. The 'obvious' thing that "MyFile" and "Myfile" are two distinct files, and "My File" of course can't be used as a name because it would break the great majority of tools ... I do not see any of the promoted 'qualities' of Linux (or *nix in general) in any of those anonymous Linux devices. If another OS had been playing in the background, I wouldn't know. Someone might give me a new smartphone (I need it; the glass is broken on my six year old one) with the same apps, same icons etc. as my old one, and if done properly, I wouldn't have been able to detect that the underlaying OS was Windows. Not until I checked the System information, or was told that I would have to download apps from MS Store. Noting in the ordinary user interface would have told. So Linux is there, but you won't notice it. You have to read it somewhere else, or be told by an evangelist.

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            You did not see. We just using it, and not just Linux. I been here since QNX. You go ahead and throw with discussions. Open source is democracy.

            Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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            • T trønderen

              Eddy Vluggen wrote:

              it still competes with the top 1 commercial package called Windows, without similar funding

              When the 'idealistic' aspects of Linux need to be stressed, it is 'without similar funding'. If the professional quality of Linux components need to be stressed, there are thousands of highly qualified developers working in companies with extremely high quality standards that contributes to the common good. There is a lot of truth to the second point (except that lots of Linux software made during working hours may be a few notches below 'extremely high quality standards). Funding rarely is any problem for the great majority of Linux software. Thousands of companies let their employees spend part (or all) of their working time doing the development. I have myself worked on a handful of projects where the bosses knew the marketing value of "our software is free and open, and we welcome external contributions": If "open software" had not been included in the project description, we would have had a lot more difficulty raising our project on the internal funding scale - even when we couldn't possibly imagine who would care for the code we developed.

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              trønderen wrote:

              When the 'idealistic' aspects of Linux need to be stressed, it is 'without similar funding'.

              It is, isn't it?

              trønderen wrote:

              If the professional quality of Linux components need to be stressed, there are thousands of highly qualified developers working in companies with extremely high quality standards that contributes to the common good.

              Whoa, I was nearly impressed :D

              trønderen wrote:

              There is a lot of truth to the second point

              Yeah, whatever.

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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              • L Lost User

                Marc Clifton wrote:

                It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

                Some distro's come set up as different machines. I argued a week with my PC to get a decent webserver going; there's distro's with Apache/Mono/ASP.NET preinstalled. Was up and running minutes after install :) Search more, but dive less deep.

                Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

                M Offline
                M Offline
                Marc Clifton
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                Getting .NET 6 installed wasn't too hard, except I discovered that flavors of Ubuntu > 18.04 don't work. Debian worked fine. Got a bunch of cool stuff working (article on Tuesday) but this mail server setup is nutso. I guess I will have to try following the DigitalOcean instructions to the letter.

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                • R RickZeeland

                  I always get scared when seeing instruction videos on how to install software on Linux, about 90% of the video usually show a terminal screen with reams of scrolling text :-\

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                  M Offline
                  Marc Clifton
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  RickZeeland wrote:

                  about 90% of the video usually show a terminal screen with reams of scrolling text

                  Yup. And someone with an Indian accent mumbling through the process. :sigh:

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                  • D DrWalter PE

                    It's that way, so you can claim to be a guru once you get it working. BTW, I got one sert up on linux 0.98 wat back when. You should have tried it without the interwebs to search for documentation. It was painful.

                    M Offline
                    M Offline
                    Marc Clifton
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    DrWalter PE wrote:

                    You should have tried it without the interwebs to search for documentation. It was painful.

                    OMG. I can only imagine. Then again, the stuff on the interwebs is contradictory and often wrong.

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                    • M Marc Clifton

                      I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

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                      G Offline
                      Gary R Wheeler
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      Marc Clifton wrote:

                      I don't understand why it has to be so complicated

                      Because, if you don't know how to do it from the innate elegance of all things that are Linux, none of the other Linux afficionado's want you to find out. They're worried that your voice might drown theirs out in their worship at Linus' feet.

                      Software Zen: delete this;

                      L 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • M Marc Clifton

                        Getting .NET 6 installed wasn't too hard, except I discovered that flavors of Ubuntu > 18.04 don't work. Debian worked fine. Got a bunch of cool stuff working (article on Tuesday) but this mail server setup is nutso. I guess I will have to try following the DigitalOcean instructions to the letter.

                        Latest Articles:
                        ASP.NET Core Web API: Plugin Controllers and Services

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        People keep telling me to use some form of Ubuntu. I'm happy with Suse.

                        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

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                        • G Gary R Wheeler

                          Marc Clifton wrote:

                          I don't understand why it has to be so complicated

                          Because, if you don't know how to do it from the innate elegance of all things that are Linux, none of the other Linux afficionado's want you to find out. They're worried that your voice might drown theirs out in their worship at Linus' feet.

                          Software Zen: delete this;

                          L Offline
                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          I did some WarCraft on some brand of Linux. Some Rimorld too. The only thing I miss, is VS.

                          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • M Marc Clifton

                            I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

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                            theoldfool
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            Ain't no picnic regardless of OS. I have done a couple of Exchange servers and managed a couple of domain email servers on O365. IIRC, powershell took a bunch of typing. Microsoft makes you jump through hoops to use your own domain name. Best done for security reasons. Exchange can be fussy about ports, requiring receive connectors in our case. Like anything else, once you know how to do it, it is intuitive. Here is how to do it on a Pi: How to Install an Email Server on your Raspberry Pi? – RaspberryTips[^] Interesting how folks here like to belittle Linux, I think the majority of Internet servers run Linux. I think Googles stuff, like Android is based from Linux. Desktop? Never close until Chromebooks showed up. I imagine most of you haters prefer running Windows on your smartphones. :cool:

                            >64 Some days the dragon wins. Suck it up.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • M Marc Clifton

                              I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

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                              abmv
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              if its just for testing try hmailserver on a windows 10 or 11 desktop

                              Caveat Emptor. "Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long

                              We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. - Greta Thunberg

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                              • M Marc Clifton

                                I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

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                                L Offline
                                L Offline
                                lmoelleb
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                apt-get... ehh... sounds.... old and complicated. X| Isn't there a Docker image you can use?

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                                0
                                • D Dave Kreskowiak

                                  And this is precisely why Linux will never take over the desktop.

                                  Asking questions is a skill CodeProject Forum Guidelines Google: C# How to debug code Seriously, go read these articles.
                                  Dave Kreskowiak

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                                  D Offline
                                  den2k88
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  This is one of the reasons. The second one, shared by Mr Torvalds himeslf, is that software packaging in Linux distributions is "a major *fing pain in the a*" [quote]. IMHO Third one is that most software is unbelievably forked up: instead of a limited choice of workable software you have a vast selection of... half complete solutions in search of problems.

                                  GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++*      Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X

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                                  • M Marc Clifton

                                    Getting .NET 6 installed wasn't too hard, except I discovered that flavors of Ubuntu > 18.04 don't work. Debian worked fine. Got a bunch of cool stuff working (article on Tuesday) but this mail server setup is nutso. I guess I will have to try following the DigitalOcean instructions to the letter.

                                    Latest Articles:
                                    ASP.NET Core Web API: Plugin Controllers and Services

                                    R Offline
                                    R Offline
                                    realJSOP
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #25

                                    Marc Clifton wrote:

                                    Getting .NET 6 installed wasn't too hard, except I discovered that flavors of Ubuntu > 18.04 don't work. Debian worked fine.

                                    Which is weird (and annoying), because Ubuntu is based on Debian...

                                    ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                                    -----
                                    You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                                    -----
                                    When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013

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                                    • M Marc Clifton

                                      I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

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                                      ASP.NET Core Web API: Plugin Controllers and Services

                                      D Offline
                                      D Offline
                                      Dan Neely
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #26

                                      Because 99.99% of people who can install Linux and putz around on the command line should not be allowed to run a mail server. Making the learning curve to setting one up a thousand mile high completely smooth cliff face protected by a 100 mile deep minefield and top mounted flame throwers sheathing the entire cliff face in fire is a feature intended to limit the supply of misconfigured mail servers available for spammers to use and to limit the accumulation of IPv4s on never delete spammer blacklists.

                                      Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • M Marc Clifton

                                        I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

                                        Latest Articles:
                                        ASP.NET Core Web API: Plugin Controllers and Services

                                        O Offline
                                        O Offline
                                        obermd
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #27

                                        Interesting - this is almost exactly what it takes to set up an SMTP server on Windows. The only steps I take on Windows that's not on this list is to configure the anti-relay features.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • M Marc Clifton

                                          I've perused about 6 different packages (I don't want a UI package) and the web pages describing the setup process is like reading a magical scroll on burnt parchment and hoping the incantation doesn't summon a demon. I mean seriously. It should be: sudo apt install smtp-server 1. Answer a question about the hostname (or figure it out from the /etc/hostname file) 2. Answer a question about the default inbound and "from" email or default to "admin" 3. Firewall should be automatically configured. Get back: 1. the server name (should be the same as the hostname!) 2. the ports (should be standard!) 3. the folder where inbound emails are put into 4. a list of useful CL options to change some basic config stuff. But noooooo. Edit this, mangle that, sudo this and this and that and thar, pray here, prick finger for blood there, curse over yonder... It's insane, it's inane, I don't understand why it has to be so complicated.

                                          Latest Articles:
                                          ASP.NET Core Web API: Plugin Controllers and Services

                                          L Offline
                                          L Offline
                                          Lost User
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #28

                                          Because it's "free"?

                                          "Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I

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