On May 1, 2009, at 2:37 PM, Mike Hughes wrote:
I have a mailing list that has been running under Mailman. Another
fellow has been hosting the mailing list for me. I would like to
begin doing so myself. I have a computer available for the task.
What Linux version will work best?
Use whatever version of Linux (or other Unix) you are most comfortable
administering. Because it will be an Internet facing server, you (or
someone) will have to keep up with security updates. Note that you
can run Mailman on OS X, which you appear to have some familiarity
with. Any modern Unix-like system will do, but choose something that
you will be able to maintain.
What will I need to do to set up mailman?
You personally or someone else working with you will need to
understand mail transport and what it means to be running a machine
that receives and sends mail to the Internet.
With apologies for sounding patronizing, but the fact that you asked
the question above makes me doubt that you currently have that
understanding. But that's okay as long as you are willing to learn.
But there is much more to learn than just installing and configuring a
couple of software packages. Getting your DNS records configured so
that your mailserver doesn't look like a source of spam takes work and
thought.
This stuff is great fun to learn, but have someone close at hand who
you can consult with and who can look over your shoulder and offer
advice.
If your question was what other packages does mailman depend on, that
information is in the installation guide. But basically you will need
Apache (other webservers will work, but all of the examples that
you'll see for things use Apache),
python,
an MTA, (I use postfix; I like exim a whole lot, and sendmail
remains very popular).
cron (or on OS X, launchd.).
You will probably want to have spam filtering as well, SpamAssassin is
a popular choice. If you want to add virus checking of mail, then
something like clamav is a good choice.
Your server will need
A static public IP address.
Proper DNS PTR and A records (getting the proper PTR records can be
a frustrating experience).
DNS MX record
Best wishes,
-j
--
Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
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